Well I had a few scraps of 90-lb watercolor paper leftover from a card making exercise. Never one to waste paper, I just started playing with analogous color schemes. That turned into an obsessive need to paint all possible combination of 2-color and 3-color analogous color schemes around the color wheel, using primary and secondary colors. Basically, I made two-sided beee-a-u-ti-ful bookmarks, then decided I needed to keep them all to make an “Analogous Color Harmony” reference for myself and my watercolor classes.
What do you think? Fun or work? I would appreciate your feedback. I did learn a lot about color in the process.
See… you can make the collection into a Color Wheel.
Soft Side “Analogous Color Harmony”
Vibrant side “Analogous Color Harmony Wheel”
The process? Here are the “simple” steps:
- Cut 2″x6″ paper strips, 90lb-140lb watercolor paper
- Paint two pieces of 2″x6″ paper with each color scheme (I did six 2-color and six 3-color analogous color schemes)
- Let dry
- Iron the painted strips if they are all “warpy”
- Spray with UV Acrylic semi-gloss varnish; 2 coats, let dry at least 1 hour between coats)
- Spray with UV Acrylic matte varnish; 2 coats, let dry at least 1 hour between coats)
- “Glue” the two matching strips together. I used Acrylic Gel Medium Semi-gloss for my glue (archival and permanent). This was the most complicated step, I will warn you.
- Let dry overnight
- Glaze again with Acrylic Get Medium or Cold Wax medium. One side at a time, let dry between layers at least 6 hours. 9a. If you use Cold Wax medium, buff out the wax after it dries.
- Use slicer or edger to cut uneven edges.
- Round off corners
- Punch hole at one end of each “bookmark.
- Arrange color swatches in color wheel order and attach with center hardware.
Whew! Quite a project. Now I want to do “Triadic Color Harmony” and “Tetradic Color Harmony” wheels. I may have to go buy some more of that “scrap” paper.