When you start to think about choosing and using colour, one of the first things you learn is that there are lots of rules; rules, rules and more rules about which colours combine attractively together and how to create nice combinations.
It is true - red and green do contrast each other well; and blue does look good with orange - but if you always stick with the same old combos it all gets a bit predictable. Now, I am not much of a rule follower, and I believe pretty much any colour can look great with any other colour, so long as you blend them together successfully. What I am saying, in essence, is anything goes, so don't get too hung up on the rules!
The key is to create a pleasing bridge between colours.
So - how do you do it?
Well, here are 2 easy ways that I often use:
Method 1: Build a bridge through grey Choose two colours - anything you like; here I have chosen a sludgy green and a chocolatey brown fabric. (I have taken the predominant colour from each of the fabrics and turned it into a solid colour underneath to make it easier to see on the screen.)
Now, go through your stash of fabrics - or the fabrics at the shop, and start with one of the fabrics. Find a fabric that is similar-ish to your starting fabric, but has more grey in it. (Remember the tones from my last blog post?????) You are aiming to shift the fabric towards grey and then move out again, away from grey. Using solid colours it might look something like this.......
and in fabrics, something like this.......
or this...... What do you think? Now all you need to do is draw an imaginary line (as straight or wiggly as you like) inside the wheel and then identify colours along the line - it is as simple as that!
da daaa!!! (as my friend's daughter would say)
Why not give these techniques a try and see if you can make some nice colour combinations. To keep a record of it try taking a little snip from the fabrics you select and stick them into your colour resource - if nothing else it will make you smile to see some nice fabrics together!
Thanks for reading.
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