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I know JM has done lengthy things about swatching her ink pads. And said you can swatch for pens.
At this point, my pen and pencil collections have grown a lot and barrels, caps, leads...are not so color accurate. So I really want samples.
I know the companies do their own printable color charts including ones for you to color to track what you own...
However
Spectrum noir just released 48 new colors (they are on sale at Consumer Crafts) which I got as they are my only alcohol marker. The new charts are not out yet but it doesnt matter to me because at this point...I dont find those little blots really helpful.
Are you guys doing the 2 x 2 swatches for pen and pencis? I had done large WC paper boards etc, but they are not flexible in terms of growth and I dont really want to have to keep re-doing.
This seems daunting. I know avid colorers will know their pens and pencils but for the rest of us just starting out...
What are you doing about color tracking your pens and pencils?
I make color swatches for all my markers and pencils but not 2 x 2. I use watercolor paper for watercolor pencils; Spectrum Noir paper for their alcohol markers and cardstock for other pencils. I use my scoreboard and score 1/2 inch both horizontally and vertically and fill in with color and color name or number.
I make color swatches for all my markers and pencils but not 2 x 2. I use watercolor paper for watercolor pencils; Spectrum Noir paper for their alcohol markers and cardstock for other pencils. I use my scoreboard and score 1/2 inch both horizontally and vertically and fill in with color and color name or number.
I color swatch all paints and color pencils, but don't swatch my ink pads. I'm loving your score method Diane, what a marvelous way to create your swatches! Thanks for sharing!!!
I make color charts for all my markers, pens, etc. and I never look at them LOL. I just scribble on a piece of scratch paper to see if it's the color I want. I even have charts that show comparisons of the colors but again I don't use them.
Except for Distress inks, every medium is swatched on small pieces of CS or watercolor paper. Larger collections are in coin protector pockets. It varies for small. One small swatch collection is in the type of box Altoids come in.
Pulling swatches and laying them next to or on top of each other allows me to select color schemes I might not have thought of, and more fun, to find unusual combos that aren't my go-to's. Now and then I pull three or four swatches blind. : )
Since sometimes I want to look at color on top of or next to color without white in between, color is applied all the way to one or two edges.
This method is the similar to one used when doing color selection for clients' businesses and homes., except swatches ranged in size from 6x9" to 18x24". Playing with swatches to find harmonious and contrasting colors is one of my favorite crafting activities. Forget about making something - I just want to play with colors.
I haven't swatched my Distress inks yet, but probably willl. They're charted on Tim Holtz's pdf Distress chart: two circles of color on each section,one light, one doubled with a finger dauber. You can find easy combos going vertically, horizontally and diagonally, but so many harmonize.
If a medium can be used dry or wet, a swatch may have a color blob and squiggle on the left, and a second blob on the right with a wet brush drawn through it to lighten it. Zig Clean Color Brushes and Gelatos were done this way.
I just use the company swatch charts. I print them on cardstock. I use the Tombow chart and the Spectrum Noir chart every time I color. They help me so much.
I have been really wishing Spectrum Noir would come out with new charts for their new color and for the Illustrator line!
I do have swatches for my Derwent Pencils, I think I printed out a color sheet from their website and then just colored next to the printed color. Some of them are not so close to the printed color. I do not use those as often because the color on the end of the pencils is actually really close to the actual color.
Thinking about differences, wavejumper, whether you make individual swatches, charts or do neither, just depends on your work/play style, what your color goals are, and most of all what you enjoy.
I couldn't break the habit of individual swatches if I tried because of training about how the human eye perceives color. But I'm a color nerd. I love playing with swatches and stumbling upon unexpected combos. I don't even mind making them - kind of "Zenny."
With swatches, if I put a blue next to light peach it looks dark, but next to midnight blue it looks light. Or next to a primary blue, green undertones are visible, but next to green it looks more blue.
But others play with color differently, and if they're getting results they're happy with and having fun, that's all that matters. Before I swatched my inks I just dabbed colors onto scratch paper and got where I wanted to go.
By the way, for the Distress chart, to isolate and imagine how colors look together, I cut a small rectangle into the center of several pieces of cardstock a little bigger than index cards. So a bunch of colors are covered up but the colors you're looking at are showing through the hole.
Spectrum noir just released 48 new colors (they are on sale at Consumer Crafts) which I got as they are my only alcohol marker. The new charts are not out yet but it doesnt matter to me because at this point...I dont find those little blots really helpful.
LOL-sorry Diane. When I can get an alcohol pen for about a buck each or under....Then it is good I didnt tell you about the Tombow sale a few weeks ago! No new colors though to motivate you. ;)
I guess the SN situation pointed out to me how all these charts I did could go obsolete in a heart beat with a new release. Swatches do seem to be timeless. You can always add more.
I am LOVING that scoring idea too!! What a great way to get a clean straight swatch patch far easier than me and my ruler! Thanks!
Well if I do swatches I could just use my 2 inch punch or dies...I am just so heavy handed I am afraid I will destroy them if they are not backed with cardboard even if I round corners.
I agree that it is cool to put colors next to each other and how the same color looks different next to different colors.
The pencils I had done just by type...like all WC pencils by color...all WC blues, no matter what company, are together on a sheet of WC paper. This helps me see all my available blues for example, but would make it more difficult to see what I have from one company to avoid duplicates. The samples are not nearly as big as a swatch would be either. Just enough to see dry/wet.
Which raises another question-storage. Are you leaving your pencils in the tin box/whatever they came in, or putting all together-so all your WC pencils are in one holder? I did the second. I have enough trouble remembering which are WC, which are dry but blendable, and which are just plain colored pencils. So I just have three large containers-ie my WC pencils are in a ceramic kitchen utensil round I got for 5 bucks on clearance.
Now related to the topic of this thread...I sometimes do samples. Sometimes not. I have a good collection of prismacolor samples because I make use of them for a couple of threads here on SCS. I have Spectrum Noir and Chameleon samples. In fact I JUST finished a hex chart of the SN...and now I'm going to have to edit it for the 48 new colors. Adding to the colors on the ring won't be so hard to do.
I have the hex chart too Diane. But it isnt updated yet.
So....it seems most people do sample pens/pencils and not just ink pads (or even do ink pads at all!) Good to know!
You know, you mention to a non-carder that you want to do this kind of thing and they stare at you like you have lost your mind. lol I stand vindicated!!
I have the hex chart too Diane. But it isnt updated yet.
So....it seems most people do sample pens/pencils and not just ink pads (or even do ink pads at all!) Good to know!
You know, you mention to a non-carder that you want to do this kind of thing and they stare at you like you have lost your mind. lol I stand vindicated!!
Eons before I made cards, my Prismacolor pencils and markers were swatched and charted for a color certification program (what they called color in the built environment - buildings/businesses/homes/etc.). I haven't even used them for coloring stamped images. And in workshop we had to make gray scale swatches.
YouTube has tons of color charting videos for watecolors, acrylics, etc. that artists made. (Do I admit I watch people putting blobs of color on paper?)
I don't have markers except for the ones that go with my SU inks and cardstock. I keep track of them on the same pages. See below) My colored pencils are a mish-mash of ones I've had since I was a kid. If I had nice pens/pencils/markers, I would make some arrangement like the Spectrum Noir fan out swatches in the above post. I really like how you can see colors together and well as be able to add to/subtract from the collection.
I made my own swatch deck kind of like the sample below. I like that I can fan out the colors on my cardstock to see what works.
WOW! You made an awesome video! I'm loving your swatch PDF, and see it can be used with all of my paints, markers, and more. I currently use a swatch book, but really like your method even better. Thank you for doing this. Again, professional, awesome, and ingenious!
For those of you who like swatches to be both solid and with white space, or even single and double stamped to see them lighter and darker (my preference), SSS sells swatch blanks like fan-decks with stamps that go with them.
I actually went a different route, but have them and could see maybe using them for something else, or others may find them handy:
Before anyone else asks about the video or information about my swatch deck...the sample picture in my post is not MY work. It was just a picture I found to show what I was talking about. If you read my post I said I made a swatch deck "like the sample below." I don't want to take credit for someone else's work and I certainly don't want anyone to think that I did.
Pen and Pencil swatching
