Hello there!

And welcome to the first #coloricombo weekly prompt for 2022.

I’ve send this to everyone on my mailing list, but in the future it’ll be going out to a dedicated list. If you haven’t already signed up to it and would like to, please click below. Thank you for being part of this year long colour challenge. 

#coloricombo

For the next 52 weeks I will be sending you a combination of colours every Monday. Each week’s colours will be inspired by something that caught my eye. It might be colours from a painting of an artists who’s birthday falls in the calendar week, a trip to the grocery shop, flowers, magazines, vintage postage stamps, or something found on a walk around the lake here where we live or on other travels. It will be like a little colour adventure and the aim is to explore different combinations and share them with you.

The idea with the colour prompts is to use these colours as you wish, in your own art and style. 

Use only the limited colours as shown, combine them with a deep colour like black, Paynes grey or brown, light such as white or other neutral colours to keep the focus on this limited selection shared each week.

If you are keen to explore further another idea is to physically mix the colours of each prompt  and see what you discover.

If you like you could share outcomes on Instagram with the hashtags #coloricombo and #estemacleodclass or you can post it the private Creative Prompts Facebook group which you’re invited to.

‘Through the Break in the Rain’ Yoshitomo Nara, 2020, acrylic on canvas

This week’s colour prompt comes from an artwork by the Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara who’s birthday is on 4 January. 

The purpose of #coloricombo is to find colours from different sources, as opposed to studying an artist, but this is an added bonus in many cases. Nara uses soft muted pastels in combination with vibrant colour details and warm browns. 

For the first #coloricombo  prompt I chose the colours from a painting entitled ‘Through the Break in the Rain’. To be specific, the colours come from the left eye of this captivating painting of a young girl. The subtle but dynamic way Nara applies colours is effective and striking.  Have a look at the artist’s Instagram page and read more about his recent exhibition in Dallas. 

Colour Combination

The colour combination in this week's prompt is Sea Foam, Primrose, Tangerine and Puce. 

Puce is a dull plum purple and was made popular by Marie Antoinette. The colour is described as a shade somewhere between brown, pink and grey. The word ‘puce’ literally means flea!

Colourspark Demo

On Mondays I will do a colourspark live INSTAGRAM demo linked to the COLORICOMBO prompt. You can sign up to this demo or view it afterwards on my account.

Times for live sessions will differ from week to week, usually 3pm GMT but I will confirm beforehand on Instagram.

I look forward to see what you do in this slower paced year long colour challenge. Thank you for joining in. I look forward to see what you create.

Stay curious and creative,