Choosing colors

I spent this morning choosing colors for the warp and weft.  Here are some photos of what I selected:

The colors are obviously not true to real life (insert the usual spiel about how colors show up differently on monitors, lighting when photographing, etc.), but they give a rough idea of the color progression.

I then decided to simulate the fabric in Photoshop, just for the fun of it.  I copied out the colored part of each swatch, like so:

Then I applied a Filter->Gaussian Blur with a radius of 15 pixels for each layer, which evened out the color.  I moved the right-hand swatch over the left-hand swatch, and applied a layer mask to the right-hand swatch.  I used the Paint Bucket to fill in the layer mask with my desired fabric pattern, and behold:

This by now is an extremely blunt tool, since the colors are not very true to life, but it is useful nonetheless.  For example, the bottom and second-to-bottom color transition is jarring, because the bottom swatch is warm while the other swatch is cool. I have not decided yet which one to swap out, but it will probably be the copper chip in the bottom swatch.

The simulation also suggests to me that the top layer of green is too green.  I had been thinking of eliminating that layer anyway because it really belongs more to summer than autumn, but I think I will change the colors slightly and leave it in place for now, since this is just a sample.  If I don’t like it, I can always leave it out of the final version.

Finally, I think the magenta in the purple swatch is a little too blue, and may swap it out for a warmer color.  (The purple swatch currently sticks out like a sore thumb.)  But before I do that, I will take another look at my swatches to see the real-life colors – I seem to recall it being warmer in the swatch.  Photoshop does have serious limitations.

I wish I had more colors!  I have a VERY extensive palette of Lanaset colors, due to my huge dyefest last year, but I only did a few Cibacron F colors so my palette is more limited.  I could use what I learned in my dye study group to create new colors, but that involves dyeing a whole lot of samples, and is a project unto itself.  So I am working with my existing palette, and dreaming of later this summer, when I intend to dye a full set of Cibacron F samples.

I am now off to mix up dye stock solutions, and perhaps this evening I can paint the warp (which I wound last night).  I don’t know how well the gold embroidery thread will mix with warp painting – it leaps out of the warp at the slightest opportunity – but it’s only a 12″, 7-yard warp, so if it doesn’t work, no big deal.