Colour Diaries

I began my colour diary on October 11 2012. I have continued with this ever since. To begin with I thought this was arduous but it has soon become part of my everyday and I am finding the palettes I am choosing have an increasingly harmonious feel to them.

Sometimes it is easy for me to go back and remember specific events that happened from the palettes: the day my friend gave birth to a little girl is all pink (my nemesis colour!); the creep of Christmas approaching where much more red and green creeps into palettes and the period when it snowed a lot and the palettes are often grey-based with a small interjection of colour. Some palettes are the snapshot of a day out: the fields and mud of new year’s eve; a day in London or a drive somewhere. These palettes tend to be more disjointed than those days when I don’t do much – I suppose because much more is happening the colours are remembered from snatches of the day rather than one memorable thing as tends to be the case on working days.

It was commented at the last assessment that it was clear to see mood progressing through the palettes. I have moved on from the initial 100 Pantone postcards to the full range of swatches available in the Pantone range. This allows for a more precise remembrance of colours and nuances which the postcards did not allow. It is also noticeable that my perception of any given colour can change from day to day depending on the influence of other elements (mood/lighting/interaction with other colours).

I intend to keep this colour diary for a full calendar year, so I can see how seasons and events affect the colours I notice. I have made a book of the first 3 months of palettes and below are videos of the palettes (month by month) which fade into and out of one another. What is most interesting about this videos is the transition between one day and another: light and dark colours are rarely in the same place and the simple transitions allow the colours to be shown off at their best. The transition also suggests and element of sleep and muddying of the mood until the next full palette.