The Michelin Chef & the Limited Palette

I like to cook. I cook most days, and I think I’m reasonably decent at it. But if you placed me in a Michelin-star kitchen tomorrow, I’m fairly certain I wouldn’t last long.

Not because I can’t cook - but because I don’t understand cooking at that level.

At home, my process is simple. When I taste something before serving it, I usually ask myself a very basic question:

Does this need more salt?
More acidity?
More sweetness?

Balancing those few variables gets me surprisingly far.

Over time, I’ve realized that my painting works much the same way.

I often begin with a limited palette of primaries. When I mix a color, I don’t ask myself which specific bottle I should reach for - I ask:

Does this mixture need more red?
More yellow?
More blue?
More white?
More black?

I own well over a hundred paint bottles. Most of them see very little use.

I've found that fewer variables make clearer decisions. And clearer decisions make more harmonious colors in the end.

As the painting progresses, I introduce more specific hues - but only after the underlying structure is established. Just like tasting a dish as it develops, I rely on deliberate assessment throughout the process.

That ability to discern what you’re seeing isn’t about talent. It’s a skill that’s built over time - through repetition, reflection, and feedback. And if you practice deliberately, it eventually becomes as intuitive as tasting your food and knowing whether it needs more salt or acidity.

The problem is that most people’s journey into miniature painting is highly unstructured. We browse tutorials, try techniques, collect tips - but rarely follow a progression that deliberately builds independence. And without that structure, it’s much harder to develop confidence in your own visual judgment.

Inside my online workshop Foundations of Miniature Painting, we deliberately practice this process of sketching, refining, and reassessing - not just once, but weekly, with structured feedback.

We start April 6.

Enrollment closes April 3 at 23:59 CET.

If you’re interested in strengthening your decision-making and taking the next step in your miniature painting journey, this workshop was designed for exactly that.

You can read more here: