Surrounded by Color April 12, 2012
THOUGHTS AND TIPSTER THURSDAY
Our everyday life is totally surrounded by color. Oh how I love the world of color.
Can you imagine living in a black and white world without color? As much as I adore photos shot in black and white, give me color any day. Color makes me smile and my heart sing. Color truly tells a story in so many ways. It depicts our style and who we are.
Whether we realize it or not, color is always on our mind and part of our daily selections. We base many decisions on color; daily clothing choices, decorating our homes, cooking, setting the table, selecting scrapbook paper, yarn and other craft items, buying a new car and choosing that palette of color to begin your next painting project.
Source photo card boutique
When my students tell me in the classroom that they do not know anything about color, I stop them and say, “Yes you do”. I always get a look of surprise. I tell them, “You get dressed every day, I am sure your home is well put together with an array of carefully selected colors and you have made some great color decisions today”. I then add, “Color selection is not the problem; it is the rules that go along with your selections”. Boy and there are many. Color is amazing and I am still learning about the rules every single day. I am forever asking myself many questions: Am I using the right color palette? Do I need more warm or cool colors? Do I have enough value change and harmony? Do I need that little extra pop of color? So on and so on. Enjoy color do not be afraid of it.
Every year a new set of colors are selected for the seasons, spring and fall.
Did you all know that Tangerine Tango is the hottest color for spring? I have seen it everywhere. Is it not funny how many colors from the 70’s are creeping back into our lives. I remember those days of Poppy Orange…Bright Green…Yellow….Brown. Everything just seems to cycle back to the forefront.
Pantone Color for Fall 2012
Do all companies base their designing and color palettes on this Pantone of colors? You bet yeah…take a look at the new colors that DecoArt came out with this year. See a pattern of similarity?
If you look all around you in the department stores, home décor stores and craft stores you will begin to see the same palette of colors being showcased. If you are afraid of color or need a little help open your eyes the next time you venture into a store. You will be surrounded by the current colors. The world of color at your finger tips.
I have to admit as a designer I still have a tendency to paint what I like or use the palette of colors that appeal to me. Not always a good thing and I try to always push myself out of my comfort zone. We need to realize if our designs or handmade items are not selling via the website, craft shows, Etsy or Ebay that maybe it has something to do with the style or color selections. As many of you do, I have my favorite colors I like using all the time. It is so hard to break an old habit. Keep in mind styles and colors do change and change often. Be welling to be different and make a change.
When you are selecting a project to paint do you go by the color, style or both? Do you have the courage to try and change things up to fit your style? Keep in mind color in an easy fix. Anything can be changed to suit your needs. Not sure where to begin, well there is so many resources to help with color selection. Yarn charts, paint charts, embroidery floss charts, fabrics and scrapbook paper. I collect it all and keep it stored on my inspiration wall. Good excuse for all my collections of stuff…but it does come in handy.
