Your personal color profile

Another one of my passions is decorating my home. Choosing new colors to paint rooms is a delight and I absolutely love to try out new color combinations by switching out pillows, changing lamp shades, new drapes, bed linens,... you get the picture. Sometimes you can walk into a home and get the feel you are back a couple of decades say the orange and avocado era or the country blue and pink era. Color absolutely can date a house, clothes, makeup, automobiles, well, just about everything. Yesterday I noticed my neighbor had changed out a harvest gold toilet. I bet that bathroom looks different today. I wonder what color they put in. Bet they went white.

Thumbing through one of my decorating books I found a personal color profile test. I took it and found that I really like warm colors best. Maybe color profiling doesn’t have anything to do with painting and maybe it has everything to do with painting. You decide. I just thought it was an interesting test. Then I went and took a look at some of my latest paintings to see if they fell into any one category. Of course painting from life you first go with the local color, the color everything actually is, but if you are like me, I don’t choose to paint some things I see in nature the exact color they are, but rather go with punching up the color or playing down the color to get the harmony I want. At least that’s what I’m always striving for. I don’t think my painting has everything to do with my personal preference, but I do see that my mood certainly influences my colors. I think I’m in an ultramarine blue mood. Not sure what that says about me.



Color Characteristics: (from Better Homes and Gardens color schemes made easy)

Warm colors: Active colors move forward, communicate vigor, cheer you, excite passions, stimulate appetite, promote conversation, and evoke emotions.

Cool colors: Passive colors recede into the background, cool you down, calm your nerves, lift your spirits, promote introspection, and generally are soothing.

Neutral colors: Open-minded colors are easy on the eyes, symbolize a down-to-earth attitude, make you feel safe and secure, and work well with other colors.

Bottom line, there is a place for every color in the rainbow. L. Diane Johnson has an interesting article on painting a landscape for a client. While I don’t believe that everyone should buy or have paintings painted to fit a certain spot, Diane’s approach certainly assures a quality of success that I think we all can learn from, not just with color but understanding your clients needs and being willing to go the extra mile.

http://www.ldianejohnson.com/articles/commission_demo1/