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Writer's pictureSharon Prigan

Choosing Colors

I have spent the last year creating using camo colors. I have quite a few boxes with remnants from all the projects that I created during the year and have enough to create for another year using only camo colors.


People ask me how I create and how I end up choosing colors for a project. Well it is not one color it is many shades and tones and tints of a color family which create a world of color.


I "see" the colors but color theory to get an understanding of how to mix colors can be learnt.


In the color wheel there are primary, secondary and tertiary colors.


Primary colors are red, yellow and blue, they are pure colors and cannot be made by mixing other colors together.


color wheel with primary colors

Mixing 2 primary colors together create secondary colors, orange, green and purple.

color wheel with secondary colors

And when we mix primary colors with adjacent secondary colors we create tertiary colors. They have both names of their parent colors, blue-green, yellow-orange with the primary color first.


color wheel with tertiary colors

And when we mix more adjacent colors we get even more options



color wheel with many adjacent colors


And then in color theory there are definitions


Pure color - A color unmixed with other colors red, blue and yellow

Shades - Pure colors mixed with black

Tints - Pure colors mixed with white

Tones - Pure colors mixed with grey - adding grey flattens the color

Hue - Another word for color - the dominant color in the mix - red, yellow or blue

Value - Dark or Light - how dark or light a color appears

Saturation - Bright or Muted - which refers to the intensity or depth of a color

Temperature - Warm or Cool - refers to the energy of a color


A progression of camo green colors from light to dark


a progression of green camo colors from light to dark


A progression of camo yellow colors from light to dark



a progression of camo yellow colors from light to dark


Adding greys, whites and blacks to a color give different tints, tones and shades



9 fabric circles depicting different shades of olive greens


When choosing threads from my vintage and remnants supply, I apply the same theory and find many shades in the camo family



spools of green and brown sewing threads


skeins of green and brown sewing threads



I also look at nature when working with colors and see what works together


greens, yellows, browns and greys in all their many tones and shades.



a hand holding slightly decayed cilantro leaves


tall green and brown trees in a public park

When I work with one color, or as I should say, a color family, I incorporate all the hues, shades and tints of that color.


I end up with a very versatile mix of one color family



A set of 4 camo colored art quilts





Taking remnants from those projects and creating this Wave Nova Star art quilt.



Wave Nova Star patchwork art quilt in camo colors


And there are now remnants in different sizes from this for the next project.


 

To find more art quilt tutorials see here on Etsy

and here on the site




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