Art Wortd Coop

"Beija" 35 x 54 © rebecca collins / artpaw.com

This adorable Golden Doodle is Beija and I will be working on additional design updates for this pup later today. This bright and colorful project will be shipping out rolled to England just as soon as I can  nail down all the needed changes. I am reworking the tail a bit and trying to rework the bedding with an interesting texture and a more Lilac color. Below is what I was thinking might work for Lilac.

"Beija" 35 x 54 © rebecca collins / artpaw.com

When I sent my client soft update proofs last night she requested more lilac bedding options, and I was not sure at all if the Lilac in her mind was matching the Lilac in my mind. I was not even sure if I knew what Lilac was since I do not use that adjective much. I am much more likely to say the words Lavender, Plum or Periwinkle when talking about shades of purple.  So .... what to do?  I remembered my favorite on-line color tool : colourlovers.com. I sent her a link to the search results for Lilac and also sent her the screen shot above.  With over 67 very different page results for Lilac on that site I realized I was not the only one with a different idea of hue.

None of the colourlovers.com results were exactly what she had in mind but she did send me a color swatch she found on a fabric shopping site that I can use as a reference .... yay! Problem solved quickly.


Working With Color:I am a total color junkie and sometimes I find myself working with a client that is also really into color and can talk with me about cool hues, warm hues, muddy colors, acidic colors and more. Just because a client may have a sophisticated design sense and the ability to talk color does not mean that words alone are going to get you to connect about specifically what is in their head. When the client is far away, like in England and a studio visit is not possible make the most of on-line tools to get on the same page when talking about color. In addition  to colourlovers.com you might try paint websites such as Sherwin Williams where they let you download color palettes.  I just noticed they also have an interactive tool that lets you upload a pic of your living room and then it will show you what different colors will look like in the room ... I will be trying that out very soon.

• Residential clients do not have Pantone books so use on-line tools to talk color.
• Always explain that the colors they see on their monitor will not match the print 100%.

• Also advise about the difference between desktop print outs and your final canvas print. I have 3 office printers and they all print color differently, none of them come close to matching the colors on the large format printer.