Color Scales Are Addicting and Surprising

When I tackled the color scales exercises in Polymer Clay Color Inspirations, I learned that they are addicting to make and yield surprising results. I mixed three color scales  for  each warm and cool packaged Premo color using  the yellows (cadmium, zinc and fluorescent) as my light colors. The cool colors were  ultramarine blue, cobalt blue, turquoise, sea green, green, and fluorescent green.  The  warm colors were  alizarin crimson, medium red, cadmium red, florescent red, fluorescent pink, fuchsia, purple, violet, and orange.  I also mixed a black and white color scale (or value scale), for the heck of it.

And boy, I got some surprises!  I used to love cadmium yellow and ultramarine blue, but after mixing the color scales, I found that mixtures made with zinc yellow and cobalt blue  produced colors that were more attractive to me.  I had hardly ever touched fluorescents before, but I learned that they can produce vibrant colors that don’t look gaudy.

I also discovered,  much to my delight, that purple, violet, and fuchsia mixed with the yellows produce some yummy shades of caramel and chocolate.

After completing thes exercise I ended up changing the mixtures in my personal palette.  Before, my blue was  1 oz ultramarine blue with a pea of fuchsia and white;  my yellow was  1 oz cadmium yellow with a pea of fuchsia and white;  and my magenta was  1 oz fuchsia with a pea of white.

This is my improved personal palette:  blue:  7/8 oz cobalt, 1/8 oz ultramarine, and a pea of white; yellow:  ½ oz cadmium yellow and ½ oz zinc yellow and a pea of white;   magenta: ¾ oz fuchsia, ¼ oz medium red and a pea of white.  I’ll use this to complete my first color scale triangle.  Stay tuned.

I am beginning to get an idea of the colors can do.