We all love a splash of colour in our lives, Now if we are 'creatives' we tend to be a bit more obsessed with tones, gradients, colour charts or ink colours.
And as you can see from how I have designed the site, You can see I do love a spot of colour!
Colour Love
I honestly get inspired by colours all around me, everywhere I go! As I have some spanish heritage I find colours a breeze, I love working with bright colours. I have been working with colour for over 20 years as a web designer and creative. sometimes the best ways I have found is being out and about in nature, some amazing colour palettes are out in the bush! So I thought I'd offer some simple ways to kickstart your creating.
Understanding Colour
Okay I will try to not overwhelm you, But here are the basics of Colour. Simple Guide You can reference back to - nothing too in depth. At a Later time - I may offer some classes on this.
Primary Colours:
These are colours you mix that create's any number of colours, this is where all colours start.
Red
Yellow
Blue
Secondary Colours:
These are color combinations created by the equal mixture of two primary colors.
Orange
Green
Violet
Colour Wheel - Rainbow
(Tertiary Colours):
These are some of my Favourites
Colours which are formed by mixing a primary with a secondary.
Red-Orange
Yellow-Orange
Yellow-Green
Blue-Green
Blue-Violet
Red-Violet
Colours Rainbow:
For myself I tend to follow this flow of colours. as you can see Pink is not listed on Colour wheels as it is a colour that is mixed from non colour and a primary or tertiary colour. But I always love adding it into the rainbow. to make it easier on my brain.
Colour Wheel Colours
Neutral Colours:
Commonly combined with brighter accent colors but they can also be used on their own in designs.
Black
White
Gray
Cremes/Vanilla/Ivory
Tans
Browns
Where to Find Colours
Okay so now You have a bit more understanding of colour. now how to implement this to your creating.
Scrapbooking:
Have a look at your pictures, find some of the main colours you want to focus on. Printed Papers, these are great as many times they have done half of the work for you, so then you just select images with similar colours. The other awesome Ideas is to stick to printing images in Black and White, to make it easier to match photo with papers and colour tones/palettes.
Stamping:
Look at your stamp image you have chosen, the colours often can be found by finding real life images to gauge the colours and shading from. Google then is your friend. The greatest thing about colouring images you can use your own imagination and go wild - til you find your colour palette, best way is blogs with listed markers used so you can have a understanding of what colour combinations work for different images.
Card Making:
Thinking of your recipient is a great first step - if you are not creating for a specific person this will not apply. Choosing a collection of papers and die cuts helps take the guess work out of creating.
many times the collection has a colour palette and therefore is much easier to co-ordinate.
early on its better to stick to one collection so then you know colours will not clash.
Off the Page Projects:
This is a great way to work out what colours you like to work with, sometimes the best way to start is by picking monochromatic colours - different tones of same colour family. the best tip I can offer with this is not to add too many colours over the top of each other, this usually results in a mud puddle!
Mixed Media and adding inks to images or layers, is best kept to a few colours - usually in 2's or 3's.
Which Products
The best Products to start with in general depends on your craft.
Card making: You can use a collection of Papers and Die Cuts to easily have a card come together.
Stamping: Selecting one type of ink helps. select a range of inks that are great for many uses such as the #distressoxides which can be used for Stamping, Mixed Media, Blending and are Water Reactive. a range that has many tones available helps also.
Colouring Images: once again it's great to start with products that have a good selection of colours, start with 3 tones of a colour, you will see many colour combinations for colouring images can require quite a large selection for all the shading and different parts. start simply with images that are not too detailed.
We find the #uniquelycreative Mini Kits are great as they include an Idea Book that gives you a list of marker colours used on the card ideas, which can be matched to whichever brand markers you are using.
Please Note: we are always happy to help if this feels very overwhelming.
Mixed Media/Off the Page Projects: This is again a Project that the best way is to find a product range you would like to use, #distressinks are always a great product line due to how many types of products are available in each colour. you can choose just one colour but use different types of products to create some really amazing looks - such as choosing a Ink Pad, Ink Spray and Emboss Glaze to create some really effective looks!
Help
Please know we are always on hand when things feel so overwhelming, BUT the best way to start is just start, Starting with a small amount of products. Get a feel of how they work, we are always happy to help with choosing the correct products for your project. Always is best to have an idea of what you would like to complete, this is when kits can be really handy as the guess work has been taken out and you have a selection of Products and a Magazine showing how to use the Products in your Projects, including ideas to get you started.
Thanks
I hope this guide has helped, we cannot say it more, that we love helping and so if you have made it to this section and still want us to step in we are very much happy to do so with NO pressure to buy!
we just want you to enjoy a creative outlet - such a great outlet to have which really does help our bodies and improve our lives.
feel free to reach out, leave a comment below or contact us