Probably the most common question I get asked is ‘how do I come up with a colour combo?’ Do I use a colour wheel? Do I use an App?
I find it a difficult question to answer because I kinda just ‘see’ it in my mind. This quote from Steve Jobs sums it up quite well.
I will attempt though to explain it a little more in this blog post!
There is such a thing as colour theory and the colour wheel, but I know very little about either and have little experience of either. All I know of the colour wheel is that it suggests that colours opposite sides of the wheel compliment each other but I've not tested that out myself. There's a lot more to it than that and you can probably go down a long rabbit hole of colour theory if you wanted but for me it is really just about trusting my eyes! Some people do find colour theory very useful though so worth a look if you are curious
Visualisation is a huge part of the creation process for me. I often have already visualised in my head what the end product will look like before I’ve started. It doesn’t necessarily still end up exactly how I initially visualised it, sometimes there’s tweaks along the way but I do like to have a general idea of where I’m heading!
I don’t use Apps to do it for me. I’ve been a needlecraft designer for over 20 years, before Apps were a thing and have worked closely with colour for years so perhaps that has helped. I expect there are probably apps that do it all for you, there’s an app for everything isn’t there?! And of course there’s now AI *shudder*
I DON’T USE AI!
I’m not an advocate of the use of AI in art. That’s all I have to say on that subject!
I do take a lot of photos, every time I see something I like the colours of or the setting of I take a snap! inspiration is literally everywhere, scenery, fabrics, illustrations, wallpaper, wrapping paper, clothing, the list is endless and my phone is full of random photos of things I’ve come across mixed in with hundreds of photos of the dog 😂
Probably my best tool for colour combos though is yarn pegs. I’ve got lots of yarn pegs for the brands I most often use. Some I’ve been gifted, some I’ve bought and some I’ve just made myself. They are a great investment as you don’t then have to get all your stash out on the floor to put a combo together (which is what I did before I had yarn pegs!)
Emily at Eliza And The Giraffe is your lady for yarn pegs!!
There is really no substitute for seeing the yarn in the flesh. Each peg has a sample of the actual yarn on it so you can see more easily what works and what doesn’t. computer/tablet/phone screen is never going to show the colours 100% accurately so it’s yarn pegs and decent daylight all the way for me!
Colour placement can make or break a combo for me and yarn pegs are invaluable for helping with placement. There’s always lots of shuffling pegs around before something will sit right for me. I have a dedicated notebook where I right down my finalised combos so that when I want to start something new or need inspiration I can refer back to it and revisit combos I’ve already prepped.
Choice of pattern and stitch is hugely important for me too. Colour combos don’t always lend themselves to all patterns. I sometimes make up samples before I decide to see better how things would look
I do use technology to put an image together like the one below showing the colour combo for my socials accounts/blog. I use graphics software regularly in my day job so I’m used to putting together collages and visuals to show my work.
I wish I could give you a better 'how to' with colour combos but it's not an exact science for me. It's really just a combination of visualisation, gathering ideas from the things around me, playing with yarn pegs, trial and error and ultimately just trusting my eyes. I enjoy playing with colour, I enjoy experimenting with it and I love to come across combos that surprise me. I've become much more adventurous with colours over the years and I'm very much drawn to bold colours over pastels........I do struggle at bit with pastel combos!
I hope this has helped a little to explain my process (not sure it can be called a process really!) and probably my best advice is to just experiment and keep an open mind.......sometimes the combo you think isn't going to work works the best!