Genesis of a Colorway Part II

I left you yesterday as I was about to grab my sketchbook, and my colored pencils.

I like to have all my pencils available, and after some serious sharpening, I draw about 18 circles on page.

I love working with the colored pencils as they can be layered to create subtle color variations.

Before I continue, let's look at the Blessed Damozel again.



The first color I saw was the one in her robe. I saw a deep green with a navy undertone. So I started to decline ( a word I use referring to the process of Latin and Greek declensions in which a root word is modified) the greens making them gradually more green, and leading them towards the gentle greeninsh greys.

Next I saw the browns, rusts and oranges. I started with the deepest brown and added rust as an overtone, again as for the greens I declined the browns to their simplest orange.

Next, it was the turn of the pinks and corals. I started with a red with a coral undertone, and went gradually towards the lighter pinks, adding a coral cast to all of them. Finally came a touch of yellow, and a pinch of pinkinsh beige.

This process left me with 18 colors, way too many for a skein of yarn. That is the hard part, to simplify the color range while at the same time keeping the colors true to their inspiration.



I narrowed the colors to 5 main colors with 4 in-betweens. The five main colors will become my main colors on the skein, and the in-betweens will be the areas where 2 colors touch and in the process create a variation.



Next stage, selecting the dyes, and mixing them precisely to obtain the desired colors. I love that stage, this is when my colors come to life.

This will be Part III!