Tips for choosing beading colour combinations for jewellery making
Choosing bead colours for making bead jewellery can be a daunting task simply because there are a plethora of colour options to choose from. Here are some tips to ensure that the beading colour combinations that you have chosen make for excellent aesthetics.
Focal Bead
Choose the colour of the focal bead or the main bead and use it as an inspiration to find the colours of the other beads. The other beads should complement the colour of the focal bead and not distract attention away from the focal bead. You need to select the beads whose colours complement the main bead and put them in a bead tray. Thereafter, compare each bead with the focal bead to get the best combination.
Colour Wheel
Colour wheel is the best way to visualise the combinations of various primary, secondary and tertiary colours. You can take the help of the colour wheel to select the best colour combination for the bead jewellery which you are making. There are various colour schemes which you can use with the help of the colour wheel.
- Monochromatic when you use the beads of the same colour but of different tints, shades and tones as they appear on the colour wheel.
- Complementary when you use beads of colours which are on opposite sides of the colour wheel. Complementary colours create a huge contrast which makes both the colours appear more vibrant without disrupting one another.
- Triadic colour scheme when you use beads of colours which are evenly spaced on the colour wheel.
- Tetrads colour scheme when you use four colours arranged in complementary pairs on the colour wheel. Care must be taken to keep the proportions correct when using this scheme so that the colour combination does not look messy. The best way is to choose one main colour and then select others as accents.
- Analogous when you use three to five colours which are placed adjacent to each other on the colour wheel.
Digital Method
You can also take the help of the Internet to find the best colour combination for your bead jewellery. Online colour wheels are widely available such as the one provided by Adobe. The online colour wheel will allow you to view different types of colour combinations and also allow you to adjust shades so that you can determine the best colour combination.
Colour palette website is another tool for selecting bead colour combination. This website features various colour palettes extracted from photographs of plants, animals, natural settings, flowers and many other things. Another online tool allows you to upload any photo to it, which is then converted into colour combinations extracted from the photo.
Once you select a particular colour combination, you can get started on making your bead Jewellery.
Favourite items for inspiration
The inspiration for beading colour combinations can come from your favourite items such as a scarf, pillow, bedspread shirt, rug, etc. Select the colour pattern or combination which appeals to you the most and use it for your bead jewellery. The proportion must be the same in the beaded item to have the same effect.
Temperature
Bead colours can be envisioned in the context of temperature. Warm colours are orange, yellow and red because they represent the warmth of the sun. Cool colours such as purple-blue and green are close to water. Choosing bead colours as per temperature is a good course of action.
