Vanilla Beans: The Wheel of Power
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I’m back!
Between the Christmas break and taking almost two months off to care for my husband— we haven’t had our Saturday morning coffee-convo in forever.
The wait is over and I do appreciate your patience.
Today’s article is freshly written— and whoa, writing feels very clunky. I’m out of practice, like a toddler banging at the keyboard.
I also seem to be adding random e’s to the ende of manye wordes. It’s hilariously medieval. Sorry if I miss a fewe typos.
Anyway, since it feels like I’m starting over, I thought we’d head back to the beginning with color theory as well.
Don’t worry, I’ve always got something new to say about ye olde stuff.
I purchase most of my art supplies from Dick Blick. Shop using my affiliate link to support this free newsletter.
And for those wondering, my husband is doing extremely well. He’s working from home and zips around the house in the wheelchair faster than he ever walked. I guess zoomies are the one benefit of wheelchair life. His first prosthetic measurement is next week but it’ll be a while before he’s walking again. Baby steps.
THE WHEEL OF POWER
Hey, I’ve got a question for ya.
Where’s your color wheel right now?
I’m serious. Can you walk to your coloring space and grab your color wheel in less than a minute?
Be honest. You’d have to dig through a few drawers to find it, right?
That’s okay, I’m not trying to shame you. No judgement on this one. There’s a very good reason half of you reading this have no idea where you shoved your color wheel last.
Those who do know? It’s because it’s pinned to the wall like a decoration, gathering dust, eh?
(And no, you folks in the coaching program at Color Wonk don’t count. I know you know where your color wheel is. It’s stapled to your forehead, right?)
We just flipped the calendar to January and you’re one of many, many colorists resolved to improve your coloring this year.
Which explains why downloads of my free color wheel spiked last week. Jinkies!
(Pssttt… Look in the Free Download Library. Link and password midway down.)
So yeah, you’re getting ready to do some preemo next-level coloring which means you need a color wheel, right?
Uhhh…
Well…
Not really.
I know it sounds sacrilegious, right?
I should probably lose my art license for this. An art teacher saying you don’t need a color wheel? Am I crazy???
Meh.
Color wheel, schmuller wheel.
Go ahead if you really want one but in six months, you won’t remember where you shoved it.
Because color wheels ain’t what you think.
Blue
noun (bloo) Anglo-Norman blew, bliu, blu, blwe, bluw
The color of the spectrum intermediate between green and violet in the visible spectrum, an effect of light with a wavelength between 450 and 500 nanometers.
Let’s pretend you’ve decided to switch hobbies. Instead of coloring, you want to write lyric poetry.
Odes and once-upon-a-grecian-urns. That’s your new jam.
In response, I give you a dictionary. A really nice, 500 pound dictionary with all the words.
What’cha think? Are you super excited? Is it the greatest gift ever or what?
I bet you’re disppointed. It’s not that a dictionary isn’t useful. And it’s not like you’ll never-ever look something up. Once in a while, that dictionary might come in handy, even if you’re just flattening wonky watercolor doodles.
But will a dictionary help write your first poem?
Not really.
And there you go. That’s why I’m saying what I’m sayin’.
A color wheel is a color dictionary for visual people.
We art good. Not word so good.
The color wheel tells you where blue sits on the color spectrum. It tells us blue’s temperature and its relationship to other colors.
But it doesn’t say a darned thing about what to do with blue.
Or how to do it better.
People buy color wheels expecting to have their minds blown by the secrets revealed within.
With this wheel, I shall rule the art universe!
That lasts for about five minutes, then zippo. No inspiration, not even a flicker. No deep waves of knowledge. It’s just a bunch of dumb rainbow pie pieces.
Maybe you missed something?
Maybe you should watch another color theory for colorists video?
Why does every coloring influencer gush about color wheels???
I’m biting my tongue about that one.
I think I bought a color wheel for college. I’m pretty sure it was on the long list of required art supplies which I proudly charged to my brand new Discover Card. Ka-ching!
Then six days into freshman fall semester, I purged the equivalent of my own body weight from my everyday carry bag and that’s the last time I ever saw the wheel.
And to be perfectly honest, I didn’t buy another wheel until about nine months ago*.
Heck, I make free color wheels for classes because students get all excited about ‘em. But the only time I ever use a color wheel is when I’m teaching someone how to use a color wheel.
Owning a color wheel will not make you a better artist.
And deep down you know this, which is why you can’t find yours.
That’s okay. In the upcoming weeks, we’ll talk more about what a color wheel can actually do for you.
Just be prepared to be underwhelmed.
_____
*I dunno. It looked cool. Now I have a pretty new wheel to not-use.
IF YOU LIKED TODAY’S ARTICLE, SUPPORT FUTURE FREE LESSONS
NEW SESSION STARTS SOON!
We’ve been collecting names on The Blend waitlist for a month now.
I’ll be emailing enrollment invites to the first group of students on Monday, January 12th
If you don’t receive an invite, hang tight. I’m starting with the first 20 names but if we don’t fill every space, I’ll move to the next names until all 20 seats are filled.
I’ll run another session in February and continue to group students into monthly cohorts until the entire waitlist has been enrolled. Remember, my goal is NOT to limit enrollment, I’m simply clustering students because the lessons are greatly improved when several people work the same lessons at the same time. We learn a lot from each other!
WANT TO JOIN THE WAITLIST?
And here’s the brand new waitlist for The Point:
Note: You must be on a waitlist to enroll in The Blend or The Point. Students are invited sequentially in the order they are submitted.
Easy, Natural Glows
A little glow makes everything special...
I agree, Amy! Let’s make a dramatic halo of light in the background. We’ll use florescent yellow markers and draw little sparkle stars everywhere!
Luminous Lanterns takes a less dramatic approach to lighting conditions. You don’t need to go overboard to create a warm, comforting glow.
Sometimes less is more.
Luminous Lanterns is now available at Color Wonk
Along with dozens of instant access classes and study exercises.
Real art lessons, not nifty novelty techniques
Looking for my free color wheel? This is the spot.
CURRENT PASSWORD: RubberDuckie
IF YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW…
This is the color wheel I bought recently and I only got it because it works with the color cards we use in my Color Coach group. The cards are great. The wheel? It’s a wheel.
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