Color theory, in theory, is not at all difficult, until it comes to understanding the finer details, such as how to make the basic primary, secondary and tertiary colors work together, and then using all of the assorted tints and shades of these colors to make your beadwork extra special. This book delivers lessons in making many bead colors, including the shades and tints, along with the specific surface treatments used in beads, work together to create award winning, artist beading.
Learn the Color Wheel, the Put it to Use with Beads
While this beautiful volume by Sandra Wallace makes an excellent introduction to the use and application of color in beadwork, it is so much more. By demonstrating certain color schemes and how these colors appear when they are worked in beads, this book teaches us how to use our beads and their various surface treatments, colors, shades and tints to take our beadwork to the next level.Rather than focusing on the basics of color theory, Wallace has chose over 200 color combinations collected and presented in a workbook of color usage. Included with each color scheme is the detailed "how and why" each combination works so well, including the types and finished of beads recommended for each type of grouping.
And work they do! Not one of the combinations as shown lacks balance or harmony in color, tint, or shade. There are no clashes of metallic against pastel, no "blends" that end up reading as one big single color, or, worse, as no color at all. We learn the subtleties of balance within a color scheme, and how to determine the beads required to get there. Each color scheme is represented by several different pieces of beadwork; each displaying the scheme to its full advantage. "Down to Earth" includes an embellished beaded cabochon, a freeform peyote bracelet, and a square bead/roses montee bracelet, to give an example.
If you've ever felt confined by or unsure about how to use color, even though you understand the basics, this book is for you. It is the first book of its type and I recommend it for every beader, regardless of beading experience.
