Colour theory

I have had a fascination (read: obsession) with colour for as long as I can remember.

As a child, I would rearrange everything into rainbow-coloured order. (For my colour-naive readers, that order would be red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. Take notes as I will be asking questions later.)

Everything included the books in my bookcase, the pencils in my pencil tin, the anodised aluminium cups at my Grandpa's house...

Nothing has changed...I still HAVE to arrange things in rainbow order.

*twitch*

And I'm afraid my obsession is even starting to effect my one year old daughter. Her wardrobe is sporting an unusually high number of rainbow-coloured outfits...

Being so driven by colour, it's not surprising that my beadwork is usually colourful. It takes all of my self-restraint to create a piece in a subdued, 'adult' palette. I guess I'm a child at heart. I'll always love rainbows.

With the hope of awakening the colour obsession within you, here are a few of my favourite colour theory websites:

Margie Deeb is the master and guru of colour theory for beaders. *all hail the master* She has written numerous books on the subject and I think any beader would find these an invaluable resource. Her absolute passion for colour really comes through in her writing. I highly recommend a visit to Margie's website!

Color Matters is a interesting website on colour theory. This website contains information on everything from the basic principles of colour theory, to the effects that colour has on the body, to quirky factoids about colour. Did you know that turkeys have several flaps of skin around their head and neck which change colour depending on their mood? No, neither did I.

Color Hunter is a very handy colour palette generator. Simply upload your favourite picture and it will provide you with a colour palette based on that picture. Nifty!

Worqx is a comprehensive resource and offers a wonderful tutorial on colour theory. Highly recommended!