Description
The grey skies of Portland, Oregon inspired Robert Gamblin to formulate three Portland Greys – Light, Medium, and Deep. These three neutral greys were developed to help painters quickly adjust the value and chroma of colours.
Munsell Values
Portland Grey Deep, Medium, and Light are formulated at Munsell values 4, 6, and 8, respectively. In colour mixing, these neutral greys give painters the ability to simultaneously adjust value and reduce the intensity of brighter colors for more natural colour mixtures. Gamblin then went on to expand their range of Portland Greys to include Portland Warm Grey and Portland Cool Grey, which tilt toward red and blue, respectively. With Titanium Buff added as a yellow-grey, they created a triad of muted primary colours. From these three muted primaries, we can mix a range of muted secondaries.
Formulated to work together, these colours give painters a range of coloured greys for nuanced colour mixing. Having a complete range of primary and secondary coloured greys can be incredibly valuable for figurative and landscape painting. The compressed value range of these colours is helpful in creating atmospheric effects in paintings.
