There's certainly plenty of intense color in this scene from the Palouse; strong blue and yellow and green. But notice that the picture is also about half neutral. What color is the field in the foreground, or the entire hill? How would you begin to mix them? Grey? Brown? Orange? What would be best for the overall scene? Would it be good to mix some of the intense colors that are elsewhere in the image? Yellow and blue make green. What else would you need? Did you say red? There's a little bit of red in that yellow field.
Neutrals can be thought of as an opportunity. They serve to offset the more intense colors. They can also be used to pull the whole painting together. If you mix your neutrals from the same palette that creates the brighter colors they resonate with each other and contribute to a feeling of cohesiveness.
Except for the blue sky, this whole picture is made up of neutrals. You can see pink and blue green and orange, but none of them are very intense. To mix any of these subtle hues you would need to use all three primary colors and allow one or another to dominate. What is the dominant color in the rippled door? How about the wall just above that door? What would be the first color you'd reach for to paint the road?
Here are a few more images that rely on neutrals for their character. Pick one and think about how you might use a limited palette, say, one red, one yellow and one blue, to mix all the colors you see. Try letting the a little bit of the component colors of your neutrals remain visible in your mixtures.
Loved this post. It was very well written and the pictures were perfect. Thank you so much for this post and keep sharing more.
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