The Hogs & Kisses Afghan is currently underway for testing. I do have the backing for mine and will be attaching it this next week. I will have Before & After photos as well as some instructions on how I attached it. For now, our discussion.
I have seen on several groups that many a crocheter has issues or doubts when it comes to color palettes. So, I thought we could discuss color theory & places to pick palettes in hopes this could help someone. 😊
Color Theory
Color Theory. By definition, according to interaction-design.org, it is: "the collection of rules and guidelines which designers use to communicate with users through appealing color schemes in visual interfaces." Most people assume that this applies only to painting & drawing, but that is just not true. Afterall, crocheters are artists as well & their paint/pencil is yarn. So, let's begin basic color theory!
Color Schemes
In basic color theory, there are 8 color schemes: primary, secondary, tertiary, analogous, complimentary, monochromatic, warm, & cool. But what does each mean? Let's look at this image from scyapinc.org:
As you can see there are several ways to pair colors together to make gorgeous works of crochet art. But what about white, gray, brown, & black? Those are neutrals, which means they will go with pretty much anything. Even the in-between colors like cream, ivory, tan, charcoal. Now that we have that covered, how about some websites where you can make your own palettes, either from images or with premade palettes?
Color Palette Websites
I have looked at 7 different palette generators & these are my top 3:
Let's discuss each and why I like them.
Canva Color Palette Generator: This generator can make a palette from any image you upload OR from preloaded demo photos.
Why do I like it so much? Well, it not only gives you the colors from the image, but also the name of each color AND the CSS color code! Just look at this example screenshot:
ColRD: This site has uploaded photos from other users with associated color palettes. This is not as awesome as Canva because it doesn't list color names. It does, however, give the option to get the CSS color numbers (located in the circle that's labeled "#CSS"), which is good because they can be placed here to get color names.
What do I like? You can sort images by color(s) as well as popularity, date created, or name. This is awesome because it allows you to filter the 1000s of images down to ones closer to what you are looking for. Below is an example screenshot:
Colorhunt: This site has user made color palettes, but no images. It does give the CSS color number, which could be put here for color names. It also has collections for related palettes such as "dark", "space", "christmas", & many others. What do I like? All the above as well as the keywords for the palette, which are listed at the bottom. Here is an example screenshot:
Conclusion
Color theory as well as generated palettes will help anyone determine which colors go well together and what doesn't work. Take a look at each of these sites and maybe you can find some inspiration for your next project. 😉
Comment below which site you liked the best and why, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Also, if you haven't yet, become a member of the blog to stay up-to-date on all future blogs!
Be well & stay awesome! 😎
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