Experiencing Joy Through Art

   Good morning! It's great to see you again and share this time with you. As I have studied art and art techniques over the years, I have often run across an interesting rule of thumb:

   It says that when you are done or nearly done with a painting. Your palette should look like your painting. That is to say that the colors spread around on your palette should harmonzie with your painting almost perfectly. It is a sign of clean color and good use of color harmony. 

   How can we apply this same principle to design as well as art? Basically by coming at it from the other direction we can use this idea to help get a great sense of an overall room design before commiting to anything solid. Many designers start out with a “sample board”. It's basically a board with swatches, fabric clipping, wallpaper samples and all other different design elements you want to use in your room. You don’t necessarily even need the actual samples…you can print out samples from online photos and just use those. That way you can see right away if everything is coordinating and working together.

   It also allows you to make changes then and there, and correct any problems with the design and color scheme before you start actually painting walls or buying furniture. Painters use this same idea, in a sense, when they create notans and color studies. Notans are quick black and white sketches that allow an artist to work out the value placement in an artwork before they begin. Doing a color study also helps solve color problems before diving into a larger painting.

   You can benefit greatly from using this easy technique. Not only does it allow you to  correct problems, but also sometimes when everything is laid out together in this way you can see right away what it still needs, or what isn’t working. Remember to include any possible artwork you are choosing for your room in your sample board! It will help you to determine if a particular piece of art is appropriate for your design or help you make adjustments to incorporate it better. Even if you are building a design around an art piece you have already chosen, it makes coordinating the rest of it so much easier. 

   Try it and see what ideas it can help create and refine!