Finding your colour inspiration

Finding your colour inspiration

Working with colour is personal

I do find working with colour in the studio slightly tricky. I am shade blind, so I tend to lean towards more natural, muted colours. Nature is a great source of colour inspiration. The tones and shades in nature are always harmonious – a great indicator of colours that work well together.

Working with swatches

When working with fabrics and colours, separating them out is important. I take swatches of fabric and place them on a neutral background.

I put some of my fabrics from the studio on colour swatch cards. I've given each colour a different name. Labelling them makes it easier to identify what colour, hue and tone something is. This is a brilliant way to work with colour and start applying it to your design. You can start picking small sections of fabric and creating compositions with them.

Textile collages

I've made simple textile collages. You can mix up how much of each individual colour you use in your designs and can experiment with lots of different colour palettes. Also, start to think about negative space. These don't have to be your final designs but are a great way to see how your colours come together to create a dynamic and winning design.

The activity is also a great way to experiment with colours you don't ordinarily use. It is for you to decide how you are going to put the colours together and what story is going to be told. The colour palette may resonate with something you've found, and that is absolutely fine. There is no right or wrong way to work with colour. It is all an experiment, so have fun.

Miniatures

A great way to work with colour is to have miniature versions of the artwork you want to create. Have fun putting different colours together. A miniature is a lovely way to see how fabrics and textiles might work together.

As you experiment, you will be able to understand how to piece your fabric together to create similar styles with larger pieces of fabric.

The colours and shapes are forming a composition. Experiment with different ways to use different shapes and colours and travel that colour in different directions to make your shapes stand out in the background. Keep experimenting with different ways of doing things.

Binding and stitch colour

Another aspect of colour selection is that we have a binding. A binding will let you introduce additional colour and is a brilliant way to create a border or frame for your work.

The smaller pieces are almost like a piece of art. I like to hand-paint or print fabric, adding another element to the design. You can also think about the colour or the stitching. It's a really nice way to experiment as you go.

Shapes and patterns organically emerge as we build our patchwork pieces up and the pattern becomes more apparent. Patching more pieces together and seeing them together helps you form shapes, and create a dynamic pattern and new spaces. Draw your eye across your work by using different colours and allowing your eye to take them in.

Large palettes and patterned fabrics

Putting lots of different colours together can be overwhelming. When working with a quilt, I like to limit my colour palette. However, I like to encourage people to use a lot of different colours in their work and think about different combinations. Pick a colour palette you enjoy and throw in a random colour that doesn't necessarily work as well; that way, you'll build up different colour palettes and see how they come together.

Other ideas

Keep experimenting with colour and pick out the colours you really enjoy. Make a smaller version and experiment with all the different colours. Start with a limited colour palette and start throwing things in and get more involved with colour palettes you really enjoy.