Outside Inspiration: Shades of Metal
November 28, 2014
Inspirational Art
Alex Horst’s pieces are gorgeous, traditional mokume gane metal work, but being limited to metals doesn’t mean being limited in color. When given a limitation, use it to find new, creative additions and alternatives, like how to gain more color if that is what you want in a piece. Alex brings in color and a range of texture with variations in metal treatments and the addition of complimentary gemstones.
My one complaint… his online images are so small! This is why you are seeing a collage of his necklaces. They are actually each pretty impressive, but how wonderful in a collection like this. Still, as a curious buyer or an artist, it would be immensely helpful to see more detail here. It is an intriguing tease to get a glimpse of the beauty, but as a buyer I might wonder if it’s even worth the time to write and see if there are better images to be had, and so I might not take the time. Keep that in mind if you depend on online sales. Clear, large photos and detail shots can really make the difference between getting that sale or not!
Have you ever wondered how the metal mokume process differs from what we do in polymer? Well, you can see it on Alex’s website, in this step by step outline of his mokume approach. While you are there, take a look at his other jewelry designs. Just beautiful pieces all the way around!
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
Planning Your Colors
January 19, 2014
Tips and Tricks
So with this talk of color palettes all week, I thought I ought to stop and add that you don’t need to follow Pantone’s colors for the season. Get to know your market, as well as the colors you prefer to work with, and build your own signature palette for the season.
I know for some people, how to put together a color scheme is a bit of a mystery. But there is help out there! Several sites online have tools that allow you to make your own palettes. This one here is a new favorite of mine because of its relative simplicity and the fact that you can save your color exploration in your own account.
To create a color palette, you choose a color on the wheel in the bottom right then use the sliders on the upper right to adjust hue, tint (addition of white) and/or shade (addition of black). The boxes below the color wheel give you 5 options for types of color schemes that can be created off that first color.
Join the ColourLovers community on this site to save palettes, swatches and images in your account. I haven’t explored everything this site has to offer yet but I sure am having fun checking it all out. Try this palette maker for yourself!
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
Alex Horst’s pieces are gorgeous, traditional mokume gane metal work, but being limited to metals doesn’t mean being limited in color. When given a limitation, use it to find new, creative additions and alternatives, like how to gain more color if that is what you want in a piece. Alex brings in color and a range of texture with variations in metal treatments and the addition of complimentary gemstones.
My one complaint… his online images are so small! This is why you are seeing a collage of his necklaces. They are actually each pretty impressive, but how wonderful in a collection like this. Still, as a curious buyer or an artist, it would be immensely helpful to see more detail here. It is an intriguing tease to get a glimpse of the beauty, but as a buyer I might wonder if it’s even worth the time to write and see if there are better images to be had, and so I might not take the time. Keep that in mind if you depend on online sales. Clear, large photos and detail shots can really make the difference between getting that sale or not!
Have you ever wondered how the metal mokume process differs from what we do in polymer? Well, you can see it on Alex’s website, in this step by step outline of his mokume approach. While you are there, take a look at his other jewelry designs. Just beautiful pieces all the way around!
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
So with this talk of color palettes all week, I thought I ought to stop and add that you don’t need to follow Pantone’s colors for the season. Get to know your market, as well as the colors you prefer to work with, and build your own signature palette for the season.
I know for some people, how to put together a color scheme is a bit of a mystery. But there is help out there! Several sites online have tools that allow you to make your own palettes. This one here is a new favorite of mine because of its relative simplicity and the fact that you can save your color exploration in your own account.
To create a color palette, you choose a color on the wheel in the bottom right then use the sliders on the upper right to adjust hue, tint (addition of white) and/or shade (addition of black). The boxes below the color wheel give you 5 options for types of color schemes that can be created off that first color.
Join the ColourLovers community on this site to save palettes, swatches and images in your account. I haven’t explored everything this site has to offer yet but I sure am having fun checking it all out. Try this palette maker for yourself!
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
