[Chris Saper]

There have been times when I have tried to abbreviate the colors I set out, and it has never worked for me.

I am a big proponent of destaurating colors by adding their complements and/or a neutral of either same or opposing temperatures, but more often the latter. As a result I can't recall a time where I didn't have need for a red-orange-yellow complements.

Not only do I rely on complementary grays, I work hard to convey reflected color where it is appropriate, so I routinely look for ways to identify and incorporate some background or clothing colors into the skin tones, especially in the plane that turn away from the light source. Conversely, I think that using some skin tones in non-skin objects helps immeasurably to unify the color harmony of the entire piece.

If you can make the 'mini-palette' work for you, more power to you. I can't see myself recommending it to painters, though.