Colour Collaborative: November

Wood

This month's topic of wood actually marks the last of my posts as part of the Colour Collaborative*.  I didn't quite believe it when I looked back, but I've been writing these posts each month for over two years now.  It's been a pleasure to write them and to think about colour in a new way.  I hope you've enjoyed reading them.  I've linked my previous posts here, if you're interested in looking back through the older subjects that we've turned our attentions too.

So what does wood mean when it comes to colour?  To me, it's warmth.

It's a natural material of course so it's immediately softer on the eye than most man made materials will be.  You can get quite a range of wood colours and although it can vary from the pale creamy ash and birch, through yellowish pine, orangey cherry and teak, right up to rich oaks and dark walnuts, generally these are all shades that contain colours from the warm side of the spectrum.  So when you add wood, or wood colours, you're adding warmth to your palette.

That's a fairly useful trait when here in the UK, November means that we're heading into the coldest months.  Wood and wooden tones can add a much needed coziness to counteract the chills.

On this rough and weather worn cherry tree, the cracked bark is showing signs of the colours inside and picking up on this richer and rusty colour makes this palette much warmer and to me, more appealing. 

I found it quite interesting to see that even on these planks that have started to dull and grey, the warmer tones are still creeping out.  On the top palette, nature has added some pretty mustard and gold colours to the scheme, in the form of some kind of lichen I'm guessing.

And in the bottom version, the most weathered parts have turned silver and charcoal shades, but the peach and beige is still showing through to stop things getting all harsh and cold.  I love both of these.

Last but not least, you won't be surprised that my favourite collection is one that includes a little more colour.  But these otherwise subtle pastel shades are just brought to life by the depth and body of the toffee coloured wood behind.  Hold your thumb up over the brown in the pallette and see how it compares without that colour...  

I just think it makes everything zing in a wonderful way.  What do you reckon?

: :

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

Annie at Annie Cholewa

Jennifer at Thistlebear

Claire at Above the River

Sarah at Mitenska

*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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