The Dodo Blog

When we start a new hobby, the natural tendency is to imitate someone else’s style. And there’s no reason to feel bad about it. We all do it. I did it too. When I was discovering wet felting, I had no clue how I could explore it. Following what other felt makers were doing was the only way to learn and grow.

So, it’s absolutely natural. Throughout History, if you wanted to learn how to paint, you’d start by copying some else’s paintings. This would teach you their techniques and processes, so that you could develop your own later.

But there comes a time when you don’t want to be LIMITED by imitation anymore. Instead, you want to grow and create your own style. It may not be well defined at first, but slowly you start seeing your character, preferences, and your ‘touch’ in the pieces you make.

How about you? Which stage do you think you’re in? Do you feel like you’re getting close to that fork in the road? If you are, I have...

If you’ve been following this series on how to combine colors for wet felting, you know about

• primary,
• secondary,
• and tertiary colors.

Complementary, triadic, and analogous colors are now clear to you.

You also understand how to create a monochromatic palette, and you’re aware of the warm and cool sides of the color wheel.

And you know what neutral colors are and how you can use them to reduce overwhelm in a color palette and create harmony.

With all these tools in your color toolbox, you’re now ready to start mixing your wet felting color palettes.

If you have a deeper knowledge of color theory, you may think “Wait, Vanda, why haven’t you talked about which colors to mix to create brown or what are hues and value in color?”

My answer to that is I never intended this series to be about going deep into color theory. There are thousands of sites online doing exactly that. I wanted to prevent the overwhelm that color theory means for those of...

Welcome to part 3 of my series on how to use color for wet felting. In the first 2 parts we’ve looked at some of the basic concepts behind the color wheel.

So, now you know about

• warm and cool colors
• and monochromatic palettes

as well as

• complementary
• triadic
• and analogous colors.

There’s only one last concept I’d like to add: the concept of neutral colors.

Neutral colors are white, black, grey, and brown. But they’re also those colors that can be difficult to define. They live somewhere between the ones I’ve just mentioned.

They show up in Nature in sand, rocks, and shells. We call them off-white, cream, tan, beige, taupe, ivory. They can also have a bit of blue, yellow or pink in them. They can be warm or cool, depending on the colors they were created from.

Neutrals complement the colors from the color wheel. They reduce overwhelm, they’re easy on the eyes and create a peaceful atmosphere. So, adding them to your color palettes can...

Last week we started talking about ways to use color in our wet felting projects. We had a look at the color wheel, and at primary, secondary and tertiary colors.

We also spoke about the two easiest ways to create color schemes without having to elaborate too much on any combination and to always get it right: monochromatic and warm/cool color schemes.

Until now, it was easy-peasy. Right?

Now, there are thousands of ways I could make this complicated. But that’s exactly what I don’t want to do. I know I shied away from color theory for years because – not having studied art – I just found it too daunting.

And it makes sense when you’re mixing paint and trying to obtain an exact color. But that’s not what we do as felt makers. For us crazy fiber lovers, color is meant to bring out the beauty of our pieces by creating harmony. We don’t need that much detail.

So – after the disclaimer – let’s dive into part 2 of my version...

While some people are great with this – either because they have an intuition for color or because they’ve studied art – many of us find it difficult to combine colors to get the harmonious results we want. Even if you’re a natural at this, I’ve personally found that it’s something you can always improve on.

To help you create palettes that convey what you want for your pieces, as well as to give you ideas of how you can mix wool to attain a particular shade, I’m creating a short series on this topic. For that, we need to start at the beginning, with the color wheel.

I’m sure you have an understanding of the color wheel. But do you use it when you choose the colors for your projects? And in which ways can you use it to create color palettes or to convey particular feelings? This is an excellent tool to help you with your decisions if you know how to take advantage of it.

The color wheel is a color circle created to illustrate the...