The Colour Collaborative: October



 Halloween

From a colour point of view October is most definitely a yellow month to me.  It's the leaves that do it, they fade to many shades of yellow.  Other colours too, but yellow seems strongest through October, with orange taking over for November.  Halloween is the clear moment that the switch takes place though.  For the symbol of Halloween, to me, is the pumpkin and so the colour most clearly associated with that festival is orange.

They growing numbers of Halloween decorations and costumes in the shops these days also employ eerie black in abundance of course, slimey green, spooky purples, not to mention terrible blood red too but they can't overtake the sheer glorious bright orangeness of the pumpkin.

Orange can be a difficult colour to pair up being such a glaring and bold colour, but I love it together with subtle and sober greys.  Such a classic combination that I don't ever seem to tire of seeing.  I guess it's the flamboyance of one and the cautionary calmness of the other that balance out so perfectly.


Photo Credit: Steven Depolo

They say that Halloween is about remembering the dead and using humour to ridicule the power of death.  I guess that may still true but lets face it, it seems mostly about the dressing up and the sweetie haul these days.  Those garish candy colours look like a treasure trove of delight to a child but make for a very vibrant and quite frankly eye watering palette to the older eye.  Or maybe just my eye...

Unsurprisingly my favourites are the pumpkin selections.  The happy buoyant orange again, mixed with earthier tones to temper the whole thing down.  I can't decide which I prefer though, the one at the top or this one below.  They are similar but yet slight changes in shade or tone can change the whole flavour of a colour selection and this is an example of that.

The top one is complied of stronger, cleaner colours, the ones below have a chalky tint which makes the whole thing much softer.  I'd happily use either some day though.

But now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and revel in some orange because we still have this year's Jack o'lanterns to make...




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Don't forget to check out the other great 'Colour Collaborative' blogs
for more of today's posts...

Annie at Annie Cholewa
Jennifer at Thistlebear
Claire at Above the River

and this month's guest poster...

Steph at Woolythyme

What is The Colour Collaborative? 
All creative bloggers make stuff, gather stuff, shape stuff, and share stuff.
Mostly they work on their own, but what happens when a group of them work together?
Is a creative collaboration greater than the sum of its parts? We think so and we hope you will too.
We'll each be offering our own monthly take on a colour related theme, and hoping that in combination 
our ideas will encourage us, and perhaps you, to think about colour in new ways.
S x




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Comments

  1. For orange to shine it likes company, which is why I prefer the colours of the sweets. Grey is not strong enough to support the orange. My favourite is orange, bright pink and turquoise. The perfect summer combination. For Autumn it looks wonderful with golds and purples.

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  2. I adore the yellows and greys in that second photo. Yes, Halloween is all about the pumpkin and the orange, isn't it? I like the softer, more chalky tones - they seem more natural to me. X

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  3. yes, that bright bright orange is soooo Halloween to me, and I really don't have much trouble turning those pumpkins into dinner. But the more subtle orange ones...the peanut-pumpkins with all those lumpy bumps, and the cinderellas (love the squashy shape)---those are my favorite pumpkins that stay around through November. Sometimes mine stay too long---even into December and I not only have 'mixed-seasons' around the house (with Christmas decorations sneaking in), but it never fails that a couple rot in situ....and I have a huge mess. I have such a hard time parting with them, though!

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  4. The colours in your last photo are gorgeous!! Will have to remember that colour combination! Sam xx

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  5. I love the leaf photo. No matter how hard I try, I really don't like orange. It's a bit of a problem at this time of year! x

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  6. I don't normally like orange but I do enjoy seeing it in the fall, whether in the landscape or in our seasonal decor. That garland is really cute, I love the webs. Your collages are always inspiring.

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  7. Ooh, that top palette is stunning, I could totally see that as a crochet something ... a cowl perhaps?

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  8. I love orange, it is a colour that makes me happy. I even wear orange! The same is true for yellow. We haven't got a pumpkin for our lantern yet, they seem sold out :-(

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  9. Oh yes, I could totally see orange, pink and turquoise, that sounds fab. Also, I love that you love the sweetie combo too, it didn’t immediately appeal to me but I didn’t want to remove it because the pinky/yellow end I liked and I love that with someone else’s input a whole new outlook can be releaved. Thanks for your comment! :)

    Sandra x

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  10. Fantastically scary pumpkin, he's briliant. And I love your Hallowe'en bunting, cleverly done. CJ xx

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  11. I prefer the last photo colours, but still find that orange a bit jarring. I am not a fan of mustard or orange. My husband supports Castleford Tigers and their kit used to be black and amber historically but orange has sometimes replaced the amber and it makes the shirts garish. I love the blue in the second photo colours..... maybe that one is my favourite..... although I like how colourful and bright the sweetie colours are...... Thought provoking again, I love it!

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  12. Happy Halloween, Sandra, and it's good to see you again, and see a photo of you at last! That jack o' lantern looks as though someone really loves it.

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  13. Wonderful colour pallets in the second and last photos, I'm not quite so scared to use orange in a cowl to go with my new dark grey coat now :o) Happy halloween and happy weekend.
    Jane x

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