Monday 10 October 2011

Colour contention

So we've been living in Port Elizabeth now for about 10 days – not in our own place yet but working on it. In the meanwhile, we're getting into the swing of things in a smaller coastal city, which for me on the stitching front started with a trip to the Spring exhibition of the local Diaz Quilters' Guild.

All the visitors were asked to pick their favourite quilt, make a note of the number on a slip of paper and place it in the box on their way out. The idea was that the quilt with the most number of votes would win the viewer's choice award for the exhibition.

I duly took note of each of the quilts that stood out for me, and made my choice. But while doing so, it struck me just how much colour plays a part in liking or disliking a particular piece of work.

Take purple, for example. It's taken me a long time to come around to this colour, and still only certain shades appeal to me. So when I came to a mainly purple king-size bed quilt, I automatically wanted to dismiss it. But for once I forced myself to look beyond the colour choice and it was actually quite a nice design.

It got me to thinking how many other good designs I've missed out on simply because the colour choices didn't appeal to me. And how many times my own designs have been passed over because of the colours I've chosen to embroider them in.

No one consciously chooses to like or dislike a colour, though. It's just one of those things. But I'll be looking twice in future, after this little reminder that a colour scheme may just be detracting from great design.  

1 comment:

Moonsilk Stitches said...

I find it really helps to remove color when evaluating a design in progress. I photocopy it in black and white or desaturate a photograph. Or just look at it through a quilter's "red window." Using a colored viewer can desaturate colors (handy when shopping). Red works for most colors. I've found that colored plastic school report covers are inexpensive and work well. I genearlly try to keep red and blue around. (They may not be quite as dark as the manufactured tool for the purpose (one is called a Ruby Beholder), but they offer a larger viewing area and the price is better.)