Sunday, March 13, 2016

what colors do you use the most?

What colors do you use the most?
Are they the colors you most often wear? Decorate your home with? choose in other items?
These are my favorite colored pencils. Full of pigment and permanent on fabric with heat set for art quilts. I use them almost as much as I used my
"box of 64" crayola crayons as a child.

I did another sketch the other day, and noticed these were worn down, as were the new set DH got me for Christmas. I sharpened all and they were ready for business!




For some reason I just love the sharpened bits...
This is a quick sketch, done during one of the recent surprisingly warm days, as I sat on the porch.
As the pencils wear down I couldn't see them in the portfolio so I placed a plain pencil along the bottom to raise them up.








Looks like I use fuchia, purple, greens, turquoise and blue the most. Of course the golden yellow is low as well... and they have all been used.

When I color in a sketch I tend to use them all though, every color to see how it looks...

See the little hands? the vine? 
What about fabric... do you have some of every color in your stash?
Are you missing any?
Which colors do you use the most?
Is there a color you always buy when you don't need any fabric?
If you took out all the quilts you've ever made would they look like they were made by the same person?

I've seen 40 or more of mine up at once and it was astounding. I gave a lecture in a hall where they had room to hang them as I talked about them.

I suppose I use blues, greens, and fuchia most often in quiltmaking.
I am moving into red, and always try to add at least a teensy bit of orange to each one to make a quilt sparkle. It may be a sliver, a thread or a soft tone...

What color do you notice first on that sketch, probably yellow as I colored in a large space. But what next?
See the eye? The star people holding hands?
Then there is the whole combination question. My current favorite is turquoise/aqua with lime green and blue.

Lots of questions for you to answer today! I'd love to interview each one of you!
check out this very old post about one of my favorite colorful quits illustrating my point tequila-sunset

27 comments:

Sara said...

My home is mostly neutral so I can change out the pops of color whenever I want. In clothes and quilting my tastes run toward the jewel tone colors - rich, deep colors. I love red the most. I do quilt a lot with bright rich colors and don't often choose tan, brown, or washed out types of colors. But I'm trying to step out of the comfort zone with my quilting.

Maria said...

My white colored pencil seems to be the smallest for some reason. I guess coloring in all of those beach girls' eyes makes an impact. The pink comes in second for all of their lips I'm assuming:-) I just love using the Prisma colored pencil, they look so complementing against the fabric!

quiltedfabricart said...

I know it may sound strange yo a not afraid of color girl but I like browns from gold to chocolate and greens from spring almost yellow green to evergreen. I suppose it has to do with my love of the woods and forest. I am also drawn to purple for some reason all shades - like the sky on a coming out of the rain sunrise. My pencil or paint color used the most is white - because no matter what the color, white enhances it . Do you like the prisms color pencils better than inktense on fabric?

Amy Art Quilter & Fyber Cafe said...

When I first started quilting in the 70's all my greens were blue-green, those quilts look so bland now. Now I love lime green!!! I also of course use pink, purple and a lot of cobalt blue, which is my favorite color.

Mystic Quilter said...

How long have you got??? I shall be brief. Love purples, aquas, lime green, coral, yellow - towards oranges not so much, Brown - oh no! Like to use many colours in my quilts and they have to be saturated colour although I do also like some pastels in the mix. I have lots of Polychromos pencils and still hunting for Prismacolor here in NZ but I wasn't aware that these can be used on fabric so thanks for letting us know that. On the clothing side my taste is more or less the same as my fabrics I just don't do greyed colours, they must be clear.

Michele McLaughlin said...

Interesting post! I like aqua but have been mad for red for years (my kitchen is accented in red). I'm color fickle though. I go in phases. Aqua today, who knows tomorrow. Noticed the aqua "Learning" first (no surprise!). Have a great day Lee Anna!

easyweimaraner said...

I love green but this color is special and fits not with all things. and weimaraner-grey is cool too... but not easy to mix... my first try ended as an epic fail and therefore this year I have to coat all the walls :o(

Tails Around the Ranch said...

:) My pencil box is filled with short blue and grey ones-I use them the most for creating (or rather, trying to create) moody effects. ღ

Linda Schiffer said...

I _think_ that magenta is my favorite color most days ... but when I look at my colored pencils, the purple one is the shortest (having been sharpened the most often:) closely followed by the cobalt blue one.

:) Linda

Nancy A. Bekofske said...

I wear black because that is the color my size comes in most of all. I decorate in bright clear pastels whenever possible! My newest rooms are a yellowy springy green and aqua blue and turquoise. And my quilts tend to be all over the place! I just love color anyway.

sonja said...

It depends and varies as just now i am loving shades of aqua marine,turquoise and verdigris.My jar of prismacolors pencil colors vary in tallness during the year, usually greens melt down faster. my current lap quilt and small bag projects are in these colors with traces of pinkly shades and some mango and mellow yellow also... what was the question...

Pamela said...

I've always been drawn to colors that remind me of the tropical sea--turquoise, azure.

But I've been spending lots of time on the U.S. East Coast and learning to find the beauty in browns and greens too.

PaulaB quilts said...

I don't use colored pencils, but have not tried Prismacolor. The others seem too pale. I dress in jewel tones, but my apt with antiques calls for burgundy, but lots of colored glassware where the light shines through.
Interesting that Forgiveness leads to only positive things, which all end in Love.

LA Paylor said...

Oh Paula, thank you for that insight. I am learning... and it's true. Forgiveness doesn't always lead to renewing a relationship but it always leads to love. LeeAnna

Sue said...

Okay, I went to a textile art show with my BFF, at our local Art Center (Sebastopol Center for the Arts) and there was this one piece that I kept returning to, and finally took some photos of. My BFF says "I know why you like that one so much, it has your favorite color...ALL OF THEM!". I wear colors in the "winter" color category, but I do not extend this preference to my art. For instance, I would never, ever consider wearing orange or yellow, but I use it a lot in my quilts. Go figure. Color, color, everywhere, it is all just beautiful!

SandraC said...

I have gone through what I am calling the "fabric change of life"....was always into country colours, brick red, gold, indigo. Now I am using and wearing a lot of happy bright colours, pink, purple, etc. I look at my old stash of fabrics and wonder if should just pass it along, don't know if I'll use those colours again

Mary Huey said...

I work in lots of color ranges as a teacher, but I overshop in blues and greens. Hmmm?

Deb said...

Love this post and has me thinking my color choices run in season or spurts, when I first began making quilts I was drawn to calico fabrics then greens took over, home decor, clothing and even m y favorite color changes from time to time.

The Colorful Fabriholic said...

I love color, and your pencil photos and your sketches are so appealing! Lately my quilts have been mostly analogous greens/teals, analogous pinks/oranges, or achromatic taupes/black. I think I need to break out of my rut!

Jayne said...

I jump from one color to the next all the time! A favorite color...grey! Yikes! To be fair, it's usually the background color!

Tish Stemple said...

I have to say that I love all colors. I try to have some of everything in my stash. Recently I have developed quite a love affair with blue and turquoise.

Shannon said...

Great questions! I just sewed a small quilt top from 100 triangles. They were leftovers from a rainbow gravity quilt my friend made. I laid them out in rainbow order and as I was sewing them in row, I noticed that I was drawn to the cooler colors. Some of the warmer ones were just icky! But when I make quilts, I make them in every color. I bet mine don't look like they all come from the same person.

Unknown said...

No question....GREEN! From lime to emerald, then onto blue greens, then turquoise, then sky blue to cobalt. It's evident in my stash for sure...

Kaja said...

Interesting - my favourite colours are all the greens but my quilts have been all sorts, but not so many green ones. Red I don't like so much, yet it keeps sneaking into my work. Go figure.

Susan said...

I have a lot of green, blue, and pink, as the first two are calming, and well, I just look good in pink! Not a big yellow or orange fan.
Thanks again for linking up to Midweek Makers! See you next week!
Susan @ quiltfabrication

TheItinerantChemist said...

I think I'm too new to quilting to have yet fallen into the habit of using lots of certain colours. I love most colours and enjoy a challenge (can we say Marsala?), so I'll try most things once! Although my favourite colour is dark green, it hasn't appeared as a colour in much of what I've made so far. I doubt anyone looking at all my finished items together would know they were all by the same person - I haven't quite found my quilting "voice" yet, just messing around with different styles and patterns. :)

Create With Joy said...

I love Prismacolor pencils!
I use pinks blues and purples all of the time!
Great question - have a wonderful weekend and thanks for joining us at Inspire Me Monday at Create With Joy!