Friday, March 9, 2007

color samples

What's my favorite color? Is it red or blue or green?
That's easy. It's the rainbow and all colors in between.

I love colors, all colors. Even the ones with strange names like Pea Soup Green. I love teaching children about the color wheel and how we mix colors to get different colors.

I enjoy color schemes that blend and harmonize, colors that accent, colors that wake you up or put you to sleep, colors one would never put together 50 years ago but are stylish combinations today. I color-code files, notebooks, storage containers and people. I'm so color conscious that if someone tells me that the plant identification book is green and is on the second shelf and the book is really purple, I have a hard time finding it.

I have a problem with painting every room in the house Antique White or even Biscuit or Believable Buff. They're okay for a base color but then I've got to have a texture or wash with other colors blended in. It helps that I have two daughter who paint professionally. (Don't look at the line between my kitchen and my living room where phase two of "let's fix up Mom and Dad's house" hasn't YET gotten finished.)

Have you ever looked at paint chips or a painter's color chip tool? It fans out with a gazillion blades, each a different color and 6 or 7 tints or shades of each color. The fun part is checking out the color names: Green Trance, Cosmetic Peach, Rejuvenate, Oleander, Cooled Blue (looks like a faded green to me), Lobelia (another blue), Intellectual Gray, (I could use that right by the computer.) Euphoric Lilac, Enticing Red, etc. And that is just one brand of paint. Other brands have their own creative names.Someone actually gets paid to make up these names? Oops, someone ran out of ideas. Here's one called Grayish.

So why do I have a pepto bismal pink blog???? That is a good question? It looked good on the sample templates. (I just now matched it to a color chip and it is actually Anemone with Gala pink trim and Juneberry lettering. Good grief! They're not even on the same color blade.)
As soon as I figure out how to change it, I will. I think I'll go with something like Afterglow or Wishful Blue.

Hint for the day: When making word strips, posters, flyers, etc. don't use yellow on white or white on yellow. They may look fine close up but the lettering disappears at even short distances. Pick colors that contrast so the lettering will stand out.

Have a colorful day!

4 comments:

Tangent Woman said...

Okay - now that I can comment -
This made me want to go home and paint all my walls - I am sick of eggshell white. I'd like to paint my kitchen lilac or even heliotrope. The realtors always try to convince you that neutral color walls are better than colors - but since last time I moved my family and friends informed me in no uncertain terms that they were never moving my 5000 boxes full of puzzles again - I am not moving. How about a dark blue bathroom?

Julie Q. said...

I'm learning things about you I never knew -- like how you loved colors. I mean I know what an amazing artist you are and if I had thought about it, I would have figured that involved a fascination with colors, but you've put a new spin on things for me. Keep writing please :)

Anonymous said...

Do you go back and read your comments if your post is over a week old? Hope so. I was watching a home and garden show once about how to decorate your home on a budget. The show host suggested getting 5 or 6 of those paint strips in a progressive line of color and framing them as artwork. I've often thought about that, and although I've never done it, I think it might look neat. And it certainly would be cheap--free paint chips and a frame for $2.50 at Wal-Mart. How much better can you get than that?

Klutzmom said...

I definitely go back and check for comments. A new blogger thrives on comments, hopes for comments, etc.
Cool idea with the paint chips. I've never thought of that. Maybe for a child's room you could include the cute ones with the mickey mouse ears. I've been trying to think of something fun to do wih those.