You can be born with color confidence but for most of us, color confidence is just a muscle that needs exercise.
Color is many things; an interesting amalgam of science, culture, design, self-expression and emotion. Itโs worth spending a little time to really examine color, get to know about it and about ourselves and then, apply that knowledge, to our projects for amazing results.
In order to have good color confidence you only need to know a few things: the concepts behind Warm and Cool colors and the 80/20 rule. Go and get color confidence!
Warm and Cool Colors
If you look at the color wheel, it seems to be roughly divided between the warm colors and the cool colors.
Reds, yellows, oranges, and beige or creamy colors are warm.
All the colors that tend to this direction possess the qualities of warmth in that they are hot, stimulating, and soothing to our emotions.
Blues, greens, and grays are cool.
The blue side of the spectrum and grays and the cool off whites possess all of the qualities of coolness in that they are calming, focusing, and soothing to our intellect.
Where they meet, they mix forming some hybrids.
Though both black and white do not count as proper colors (black is all colors and white is the absence of color), they do have warm and cool properties, but are very important to know when using them, so white is cool and black is warm.
Neutral Colors
Neutral colors are mixes where no strong color is evident. Since all colors tend to make brown, neutrals cover a dizzyingly vast landscape of browns that run from the warm, red-brown of milk chocolate, to the cooler taupes and stone colors, to the light beige off whites. Neutrals are rarely exciting in their own right, but they become very exciting and sophisticated with put together with one another and with a starring color in their midst.
80/20 rule
In any design, go for 80 percent neutral and 20 percent strong colors. Small batches of color have a tremendous effect on the whole and will bring out the neutral colors around them.
Putting Color to Use and a Tip
Keeping all of this in mind, you should get started by deciding in advance what kind of an effect you want, and whether it is going to be predominantly warm or cool.
Paint chip is a great way to practice choosing colors for your knitting projects. It gives you a chance to lean into new combinations with a little extra support. Practice makes it easier to know which colors work best together.
