How I proved there are no rules in color!

Some days I put on my lab coat and conduct color experiments.  These are my notes from yesterday's experiment...


Using Adobe Illustrator I pulled up a photo of one of my stitched designs.  

Using the most fabulous Eyedropper Tool I pulled 24 colors out of the my stitched design and placed them into identically sized squares.  Here are the squares:

I took the squares I had pulled and mixed them up. I placed the colors underneath the first batch in different order.  I also took the same colors and changed the number of rows and columns on the board.  I asked myself:  Did each of these groupings look different?  Did they seem to have different colors? Not clear.

Next I took the color group and set it up in a random shape, placing the colors in different sequences.

I changed the sizes of the squares as well, some becoming larger rectangles and some only slivers of color. Once I completed two different combinations I added a background to each of the combinations using a background color from my groupings.

What interesting combinations!  

Looking back at the original group of colors I wondered; should a rosey pink look good with a elephant brown? How about a lilac purple with a bright yellow? Would they seem like a good place to start for a bright upbeat elegant piece of wearable art?  I wouldn't expect them to.

I went back to my original group of colors and decided to play with them in different sizes and shapes and see if I could come up with a beautiful sophisticated design and color combination.  I came up with this, using my colors only.

My very scientific conclusion is... there are NO rules in the world of color.  Each and every rule you bring to the table can be disproven!  Each and every time you say that a group of colors don't go together, there is bound to be a way in which the colors will look fabulous together!!  

BTW, here is the piece I used to pull my colors in the first place, Capital Jewels Cuff revisited :

I never knew I like science this much!!  😉