Colour study – saturation and value (blue-green)

Over on MyDeco I blogged about colour theory – the colour wheel, saturation and value – in preparation for doing some interior design schemes.

I just can’t emphasize enough that you should be exercising your “colour muscles” frequently, whatever your artistic endeavour (quilting, interior design, fashion, art).  And here’s a nice way to do it –

1. Choose a colour you love – I chose blue-green.

2. Find photos, web images, fabrics, paint chips, ANYTHING in those colours – making sure you consider variations in saturation and value to get the widest range possible for that colour.  You might need to clip/trim items to keep them purely one colour plus neutrals (but don’t get too hung up about it).

The first pic (of mountains) was taken from my front door.  Pretty lucky, eh?  In fact all the photos are from Brisbane or Cairns, where I have lived for most of my life.  No wonder I love blue-green.

3.  Assemble a gallery of your selections to keep as reference, and add to it periodically.

Stick physical samples into a notebook or on a board.

If using digital resources, an easy way to do this is using Pinterest. You can create an on-line board and “pin” all your pics to it, and even share with other people.  Here’s some of mine. I really must stop spending all my time doing these – I keep coming up with new categories – art, travel, fashion.  Choose something you love.

4. Now – Challenge yourself with a colour you’re not used to or don’t really like.  Choose a new category so that your eyes open to the many sources of inspiration.

I’d love to see what you come up with – post your links below.