Kellee Wynne Conrad - Mixed Media Color Studio: Explore Modern Color Theory to Create Unique Palettes and Find Your Creative Voice

Color is part of my identity as an artist. Ill bet that if you looked at your work, you would see a color pattern as well. When you paint, do you have a go-to palette or know how to identify one that is materializing as your own signature color combination? A golden thread runs through your work and your life, and its the key to your own signature color palette. The best way to discover your signature color palette is to see the world with wonder. Figure out what lights your soul on fire and then embrace your natural path toward creative expression. Soon you will see color combinations everywhere you go that you simply cant resist.

My number one tip for both beginners and experts in finding your voice, knowing your style, and choosing your color palette is that you have to make a lot of art to know how to make your art. This is universally true, and there is no magic recipe. You have to make a lot of artwork. You even have to make bad artworkits the best teacher. The more you make, the more you will begin to understand what you like and dont like, what works for you and what doesnt, what excites your soul and what bores you. These discoveries will lead you to where you want to go. And as soon as you think you know, you must do it again because we are ever-changing and growing.

The willingness to grow and stay open spills into creating a personal style, and eventually your signature color palette will emerge. As you explore your creative process, your lifestyle, and your environment, keep an art journal to record and test your ideas with swatches and thumbnail sketches. Take notice of what lights you up. What common threads keep showing up in your life, your home, your wardrobe? In the things you collect? In the photos you take? Compile the inspiration from things you have around the house, fashion, advertisements, store displays, a walk in your neighborhood, nature, and artwork you love. What do you notice? These are your clues to finding your signature color palette.

EXERCISE 1

To begin collecting inspiration for your signature color palette, go on a hunt to find examples of what you are drawn to. Snap photos or save images. Group some of your favorites together, and see if you find color palettes that excite you. Here are a few places to look:

• Ephemera: mementos, personal treasures, old cards and books
• Saved images: from Instagram, Pinterest, your computer, magazine pages
• Your closet: clothes, accessories, patterns and designs, favorite outfits
• The junk drawer: packaging, matchboxes, tins, tape, sewing supplies
• Home decor: fabric, wallpaper, throw pillows, tiles, dishes
• Paper goods: wrapping paper, journals, stationery, tags, note cards
• Nature: leaves, moss, cherry blossoms, mushrooms, rock formations, tree bark

Look for clues in the artwork youve made in the last year. What are the most dominant colors youve used? Can you identify combinations that work for you? Which pieces are your favorite because of the colors you used?

Create a grouping of your work (art journals, small works, big canvases) and re-create the colors you see. This serves a dual purpose for training your eye to see color and for noticing your own patterns emerge. Do you see a common thread throughout your work? Do you prefer warm colors or cool? Do you mostly use a saturated palette, or are you drawn to muted, earthy tones? What sparks you as you look at your work? Create swatches of your discoveries so you can have a record of your favorite combinations. This is a map to you and your signature color palette.

Screen capture some of your photo feed on your smartphone and make prints of the photo collage. I do this regularly to see what patterns appear. I organize a photo file on my phone or use a hashtag on my own posts on Instagram to see the work together. (In the photo below, Im looking at some of my floral pieces plus some inspiration elements.) This allows you to see a color pattern emerge. Using the new mixing skills youll develop in , match those shades with paint so you have a permanent record of your favorite color choices.

Throughout this book, youll see that Ive created color swatches to remember my paint choices. I often do this in a notebook and include the colors Ive used. But the more Ive mixed colors, the more savvy Ive become in visually identifying which paints I need to achieve the colors I want. While youre still learning to do this by instinct, I recommend keeping a journal of your favorite paint hues and the color mixes you discover along the way. Practice plus repetition will lead you to becoming a good colorist.

More Art Inspiration

In addition to looking at your own artwork, group together other artists work that you like, take a screen capture, and print it out for another color reference. You were drawn to these works for more than the subject and style; the colors spoke to you as well. What do they say?

Sometimes I pick offbeat combinations of blues, reds, and yellows for my palette. But more often, I find myself turning to the colors we use in modern color theory, and Im satisfied with the results every time. With all this experimenting, I have outlined five principles of color that guide me in my artwork and help me achieve the results Im searching for.

1 | UNDERSTAND HOW COLOR WORKS: Understand it to your core by doing the work. Understanding color is a lot more than mixingits practicing these principles. Knowing how color works in practical application helps you make better artwork. See how the colors react with each other, notice which mixes you like best, observe how they change when you add white or black, and satisfy any other curiosity you have that will propel you toward knowing how color works.