Part 2 - Project 3 Colour

Stage 1

To begin I chose to paint a colour wheel so that I could get the feel of the paint and the mixing.  I had painted a colour wheel years ago and thought it would be simple to do.  Of course it wasn't.  I used designer gouach to paint the wheels.  As I began to paint the double ring I felt it was becoming easier and I was getting more of an eye and feel for the paint and colours.  This was a really useful exercise for me and took me right back to basics.  Something I should remember for the future - it is good to get back to basics from time to time.



Stage 3 - Recording Colours Accurately

After painting the colour wheels I felt more confident to try out different paints.  I used gouache, watercolours, acrylics and Koh-I-Noor dyes.  I as used metallic acrylics.  I particularly liked working with the watercolours   felt I was able to judge how much of a different colour to mix with another to get the result I wanted.  As I played with all the different paints I started to get a feel for each one and began to judge more accurately the different amonts needed to mix for a specific colour I wanted.

Exercise 2

This involved choosing an 8cm square of brightly coloured patterned fabric and to paint from the edges of the fabric so that it is not possible to see where the fabric ends and the painting begins.  I found this difficult.  I am not sure whether the piece of fabric I chose was suitable but I persevered with it.  Looking at it now  see I have not got the tone quite right and would mix the paints differently.  I used designers gouache.

Exercise 3

The postcard I chose to use for this exercise I had had for a long time and have always liked it first for the colours and then the textures that can be seen on it.  I masked a 5cm square area where I thought the colours were particularly interesting.  Again it was difficult to get the mix of paints to copy the colours on the postcard.  Looking at the exercise again I feel I interpreted the colours closer on this than on the fabric exercise.  I also used a picture from a magazine of some flowers.  Again I masked off a 5cm square and recorded the colours.  I feel this was successful.

Stage 5 - Coloured Stitches

Exercise 1

I chose to work on a black background so chose a black cotton fabric to stitch on.  The most successful sample I feel is the french knot sample that I worked in reds and yellows.  Admittedly it is a favourite stitch of mine.  I stitched the knots in a range f threads - cotton perle, stranded cotton (using 2 strands and 6 strands) chenille, knitting ribbon, ribbon and silk thread.  I really like the area where the reds and yellows are stitched close together as it shows how the colours can change and then as the stitches become thinner and the black background is shown some of the stitches become jewel like.

I stitched a sample in pastel colours on a black cotton background fabric.  I used a variety of stitches - french knots, bullion stitch, fly stitch and couched threads.  This I think was not as successful as the red and yellow sample.  I stitched the bullion stitches closely together using variegated threads and like the way the colours flow.  I am not pleased with the couching.  Looking at it now I think I could have used more threads in different tones and seen how the colours played against each other.  I will do another sample at a later stage.  The fly stitch worked quite well as the colours changed when the stitch was sewn on top of each other - the pink merged into the background and the green was more visible.

Thinking about this exercise I realise I found working on a plain dark background quite challenging.  I prefer painted backgrounds and I like subtle colours.  I felt the colour exercises in Stage 5 were not as successfl as the paint exercises.  I found both very enjoyable and would like to develop stitch in relation to colour.  Also I will try these exercises in machine stitch.  I want to do a combination of hand and machine stitching.