Sunday 5 November 2017

"What is swatching?" by Melissa Struhs

Hello again, fellow blog readers.
You might be seeing lots of posts of the Design Team showing off their new haul of Colour Artist Inks and with 18 great colours added to our ever expanding product range...we do tend to get a tad excited to show you all the things that have been in pre-production for awhile. This is usually the time that we all start using the term "swatching". Simply put, it is a way to create a colour board so you can look at the product and see what it looks like when it is dried or experiment with few different ways to use them. I am one of the first people to have a set of new colours and get a chance to play as soon as they arrive but Colour Blast HQ has been a little crazy with retreat and 2 craft shows to prepare for and I am just getting a chance to familiarise myself with the colours all over again.

For today's blog post I have used
Oasis, Soot, Spice, Mermaid
and
Slipper, Citrus, Cider, Berry and Sunburnt.


So far I only have 9 and just spent half an hour playing. If you have ever seen the framed Colour Chart on the walls of the stands at the Craft Shows where we have exhibited, that is usually something I create so we can help our fabulous Colour Blast fans make their choices. So I thought I would start the process of making a new set of swatches by creating some stunning feathers.


All of my feathers were stamped with Black Staz On ink, then die cut in a variety of sizes and styles and just ready painting. A fine brush was dipped directly into the wide mouthed jar and 


coloured quite heavily all over. But it is really important that we show you how light you can make these colours as they can be watered down.


In this case, I had a damp baby wipe nearby to rest my brush on and actually pressed it quite heavily onto the lower section of the feather. If you look closely, you can see the ink being drawn up and away from the watercolour paper and into the wipe.


After about 10 seconds you can see that a gorgeous mottled pattern was achieved in the centre with slightly darker edges with very little effort. 


Of course, then I just created the same look with the remaining available colours and just lined them up to dry naturally near the air conditioner while I worked. It was about this time, that I was kicking myself that I should have made the time to round out my set while I was at work.


I am making sure I add to the collection of mine next time I am at work...half a set just won't be enough!


A few hours later, as I was about to pack them all away, I flipped them over quickly to write the colour names on the reverse and look what I found!!!! The reverse of the watercolour paper has a messy, soaked look and I really love the randomness of the look.


Be sure to say hello to Tenisha, Tina and Tracey at the Colour Blast booth if you are at the Paper Crafts Festival in Penrith this weekend or at the Logan Craft Alive the following weekend.
We would love to show you these brand new products in person.
Till next time, Mel.


1 comment:

  1. Oh wow Melissa!!! These look amazing. Can’t wait to have a go. The colours are gorgeous. Just another Colour Blast product I will have to buy up big on...yay!!!

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