Creating a colour Grid: Exploring your colours
My palette of colours - a close up of what can be created.
No matter if you are an experienced artist or a beginner picking up a brush for the first time, you know of the magic in which I speak - playing and mixing colours. You know what colour or hue you want, you have been there a million times, you’ve seen the videos where other painters manage to find the best hues, the best chroma and it looks amazing. But you, just make a dirty brown muddle… So how do you find it? Well, let me introduce you to my little colour grid, a fun, creative and relaxing way to see what you get when you mix every paint you have 50-50. It’s a simple idea, a simple reference chart, one you can always refer to, the results, beautiful and surprising!
Here we go, grab your favourite colours and lets explore how to make a colour grid that is helpful and inspiring for your next project!
What exactly is a Colour Grid?
Think of a colour grid as a table, with two axis, one along the bottom (x axis) and the other climbing the side (y axis) you create a set of squares with each ‘pure’ colour from the and as you reference up and across you mix both colours equally. It is a perfect way to visualize the relationship between each colour and see how they work together.
It’s also a pretty good way to experiment with new colours you have and just have some fun!
1 - Choose your Colours
The first step is picking the colours for the very bottom of the grid and the very left hand side - the size of the grid will be determined by how many colours you choose. To keep it simple, choose a couple of colours, some that are vibrant and diverse. Think of primaries, red, blue and yellows, if you are feeling confident add some secondaries such as greens or purples. I found a fantastic resource, from Florent Farges whom created a colour wheel system that displays all the well-known hues. His PDF is here.
Make sure they are in the same order for both axis! Otherwise it will not work properly! This equals bad…
2 - Setting up the Grid
Cutting out small strips of masking tape for between the squares.
Now as you can see from my photo there are a lot of squares! Do not fret, this fills up pretty quickly but do not rush, it’s quite easy to make a mistake from getting too excited! So, the colours you picked from the x and y axis will meet up in one of the other squares, tracking from left and the bottom. Eventually the colours will create a ‘blend’ or ‘mix’ - 50% of the left and 50% of the bottom. I keep the first square blank as 1x1 equals, well, one and therefore no mixing occurs.
For example, if you have a red and a blue you will mix those in equal quantities and fill the square with the result (a nice purple!). If yellow and green meet in another square, the same 50%-50% blend happens.
The idea behind it is that at every intersection in the grid a new colour blend will be the result, with the two colours meeting halfway.
3 - Having fun mixing colours
This is where it all starts getting pretty fun and exciting. For each and every square you are going to mix the two colours from the bottom and side in equal parts - like a giant experiment. One of the best things is you can do this with a multitude of different tools, paint, pencils, watercolours, you name it. The resulting squares are a perfectly balanced mix where neither colour dominates.
It can seem a little obvious, but crossing a colour from one axis to another shows it works. Here red and yellow cross to make a 50-50 orange.
And the best part… some colours with react exactly the way you think they would - mix a red and a yellow and you will get a beautiful orange, whereas some others, may suprise you. Mix some complimentaries together say, red and green and you’ll get that muted, earthy brown colour I said about earlier! On the other hand, mixing colours that are close to eachother on the colour wheel and you will get some rich, harmonious shades. Keep at it, some blends are really worth it!
4 - Seeing your results
As the grid fills up, take some time to really look at how the colours alter as they combine. Some will really pop, and other will subdue depending on what they are. This is where you begin to really understand how colour relates to every other, how they are set out on the colour wheel and why. With each relation you will see if they complement, contrast or create something you did not expect.
One of my personal favourites was a yellow and purple, which came to a muted orange, nearly red colour. Another brown and green, gave a deep, beautiful emerald colour!
This process will give you a better sense of how colours work together and how you can use this to your advantage in your own artwork or designs.
You may also begin to notice a pattern beginning to emerge, this took me a little by surprise as I clearly didn’t understand what I was doing! If you cut diagonally there will be a mirror akin to a butterflies wings. Due to the nature of a graph chart this is one of the more interesting features of how it works. Hm. Science.
A close-up of a colour grid.
5 - Making the most of your Colour Grid
Once you have completed your grid - lets hope you have under 30 different colours! Its a bit more than a little experiment. Its a tool! And it’s a toll personal to you!
Here are a few ways I have thought of on how you can use your grid in creative practice.
Quick Reference: Ever wondered what two colours would make that are just sitting on the side? Instead of guessing or googling, you just check your gird. Its a perfect, qucik way to see how different combinations will work, no matter if you are painting, designing or just playing around.
Inspiration: Struggling to come up with a colour scheme for your next project? This is your new handly tool! You might discover combinations that you wouldn’t have even though of. Sparking that new idea!
Teaching tool: If you are anything like me, you probably do not shut up about creating - and that isn’t a problem! But its makes a perfect visual aid when trying to discuss and idea or theory. Seeing how it all works together can have more of a impact than just talking about it!
Some beautiful, happy colours!
6 - Expanding the Grid, adding more colours
Once you have all the basics in, you know how many colours you have and you have played it safe. Now, you can really let go. You can try adding more colours to your grid to create even more combinations and blends. Or, you could change and experiment with different ratios - seeing how the balance shifts, and again, that could be useful for different projects. The example here shows all the different paints I have straight out of the tube, as this is more than enough reference for me at the present.
You could try using shades, tints (a touch of blue to a yellow and you will get a soft green, add more blue and it will create more of a teal, rich shade.), explore how lightness and darkness affects them also. Its all about experimenting, trying different combinations and taking it as far as you want.
Have fun and keep creating
Creating a colour grid is a great way to explore colour mixing in a playful and none pressured manner, using only what you already have! Due to its simplicity it helps you gain a better understanding of how colours interact with one another rather than finding out the hard way, when painting on a canvas or expensive paper!
You will also be left with a fantastic visual reference that you can use for all manner of different projects.
So, if you have never made one before, I urge you to give it a shot. I found a lot of great information here. You might find some favourite combinations you hadn’t even dreamed of and - at the very least, you’ll have made yourself a beautiful grid of colours to look at.
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Hello, I’m ChrisFor the past few years Chris has pursued one of his hobbies to make more art. Starting this blog, he finds himself growing a community of like-minded creatives who want to spend less time in front of a screen.
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