Monday, October 27, 2008

Dye experiments

In Colour on Cloth Ruth Issett suggests making up a sketchbook of colour families.
It is worth giving yourself time to experiment with colour and documenting your trials. Sketchbooks full of colour ideas are always invaluable when you feel completely devoid of inspiration at a later date. Also, the actual mechanical process of mixing colours, watching the change from one colour to another, is all good practice, increasing your knowledge of how colours are achieved. The occasional accidental drop of dye falling in the middle can surprise you with a new colour combination. Overindulgence is not a sin in this instance: a diet of colour certainly isn't fattening and surely feeds the soul!
I don't know why I hadn't done this before. It's like I've figured out the mixes that I use all the time, but by not looking outside what I always do, I felt like I could be missing something special. I've started with 'known' combinations as a way to determine that I am actually happy with the green that I use or the purple. I also used this method today to determine the approximate mix of Red8b and Orange3R which make Red BG.

For reference I use Drimarene-K dyes and not Procion MX. I started with Drimarene-K. I know my colours, and they have awesome stability in solution, so I am loathe to change dyes.

I mixed yellow and violet today which yielded some interesting colours. Not colours that I would use in children's clothes, but browns and other interesting shades could be nice for trees or maybe something for me.

2 comments:

Jetta's Nest said...

How beautiful Sara! It makes me miss painting seeing all that amazing colour.

Marie said...

See, not wonder I have trouble dyeing...I don't have the patience to do a good job. I fly by the seat of my pants constantly. You inspire me so much Sara