Saturday, March 5, 2011

Chartreuse

I am very excited about Gerrie's choice of chartreuse as our challenge color for the next round. It is a color that adds zing to so many color combinations. As I look out my window at the rainy Oregon spring I see chartreuse in abundance. It is the color of the moss that coats nearly everything that gets exposed to the elements here—tree bark, paving stones, fence boards, flower posts.

I learned something very interesting about this color many years ago in a color and design class in college. When you are mixing primary colors of paint (dye too, I suppose) the expected way of mixing chartreuse is by adding a bit of blue to yellow. I especially like the clear, clean greens, including a yellow-y chartreuse, that you get by mixing yellow and cyan. But there is a different, slightly more acidic chartreuse, the one I am actually most in love with, that you get by mixing a bit of BLACK with yellow. Amazing—no??

4 comments:

Beverly said...

Yes, it does work that way with dyes. Some of the most amazing greens I've ever done with dyes were golden yellow mixed with black, or (my preference) gray. Gorgeous chartreuses!!

Createology said...

What a lively color to work with. I love that you see it in the moss outdoors. Happy creating...

Lisa Flowers Ross said...

Yes, I learned last year that adding black to yellow dye gives you some electric color.

Ruth said...

That was news to me. Very interesting. I must give it a try with some dyes.
Thanks for the tip.