Tag: 12 colors

TWELVTY 2018: Q&A

Color is an integral part to all types of creativity, it influences our moods and emotions, it’s linked with memories, and it’s everywhere! As we tune our eyes in to notice it, life becomes brighter and more vibrant.

What is TWELVTY?

TWEVLTY is an online program all about color.

How much is it to join TWELVTY?

A full year of color is yours for just £97, or 3 monthly instalments of £33. Click here to Join now!

What happens in TWELVTY?

You learn about the meaning of color – its application and use, the meanings and symbolism each color has throughout history and around the world.

You get access to a wealth of knowledge and resources to enhance your use of color in your own creative practice.

Color is an integral part of creativity,  influencing our moods and emotions, linked with our memories, and it’s everywhere!As we tune our eyes in to notice it,life becomes brighter and more vibrant.

Who is TWELVTY for?

Whatever your creative interests, as a hobbyist, a professional, an educator, if you’re curious to learn, the resources in TWELVTY are sure to enrich your understanding of color.  In each step around the color wheel, we dive deep into each color’s meanings, how it’s used, and how it features in our lives.

What is the color wheel?

colorwheel
The color wheel is the roadmap to our adventure

We’re using the 12 part color wheel, it looks like this:

Comprising:
3 Primaries:Yellow, Red & Blue;
3 Secondaries:Green, Violet & Orange.
(Made by mixing each pair of primaries) 
6 Tertiaries: Yellow-Green, Blue-Green, Blue-Violet, Red-Violet, Red-Orange & Yellow-Orange.
(Made by mixing a primary with it’s nearest neighbouring secondary)

colorwheel_TWELVTYhalfcolors
Primary & Secondary colors are separated by the ‘in between’ Tertiary colors

The tertiary colors, the in-between colors, sit in between the primary & secondary from which they are made. The difference between these and their neighbours is subtle – they are not quite one or the other.

Some choose to skip over the tertiary colors and just use the primary and secondary colors for a simplified TWELVTY.

You can opt to take a rest in between to spend some extra time in Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet, Red & Orange, and still have all the resources for the tertiaries to revisit any time.

How long is the program? How much time will I need?

The program runs throughout 2018.

Beginning in January with a bird’s eye view of the color wheel to see the territory we’re going to explore, then preparing for the adventure ahead. 

The steps around the color wheel take place March through November.Starting with Yellow we step around the wheel one color at a time, spending 3 weeks in each color. In the first part of each segment I share the resources I’ve gathered together for you; the second part is all about the creative process, working in just this one color!

colorwheelspiral

For each 3-week section you’ll want to allow an hour or two to read and look through the ebook, guides and resources in the first part. In the second part you’ll need the about the same amount of time to review the process material. How much time you spend in the creative section is your call. 

Of course, the more you put in, the more you get out, as with any learning experience.

My aim is to make TWELVTY as much fun as possible, I’ll give you prompts and ideas to play with at the start of the color, we have photo challenges and games to play through the year as well, so there will always be plenty to choose from. 

There’s a guided project that runs throughout the program. In each segment I’ll show you what I’m making, playing with different mixed media techniques including collage, mark making with paint, print, ink, drawing and doodles, some stitching and textile elements, we might even dye some paper! Lots of ideas!

At the end of the individual color segments we have time to reflect on the process, consolidate what we’ve made and share what we’ve learned through the experience.

What do we make?

Ooh! I’m glad you asked – this is the new exciting part 😀
We’re making a 3D color wheel! 

What’s a 3D color wheel? What’s it for?

12in12in12_760hWell, I don’t want to totally give the game away, but if you’ve seen my previous 12 color art journals, you’ll know they get decidedly chunky with all the lovely layers of mixed media and collage and stuff.

That’s what inspired the idea. It’s a bit like a mini art journal. But much more fun!

Once it’s complete you can use this to inspire color combinations for future works of art. It’s a place to explore new techniques, so you can refer back to it when you want to find ideas for a new project. You can keep going back and adding to it too!

I keep my 12 color art journals open by my work table in the studio as a source of reference all the time. They’re both jammed full of all kinds of mixed media, doodles, collage, and experimental techniques and a constant source of ideas to springboard into new projects from. What we’re gonna make in TWELVTY 2018 is like this – only WAY BETTER!!! 

What if I don’t want to make a color wheel?

Totally cool. (Although you might change your mind when you see what fun we’re having…)

Seriously, you’ll get loads from TWELVTY without making a color wheel. The core reason for TWELVTY is to have fun, and bring more color into the world around us. If you only used the ebook and online resources, joined the photo challenges, or just hang in the background watching what other folks are making, you’ll still get really good value from the program.

The way TWELVTY is designed, you can take any of the elements and fit them into your own creative practice. You might choose to take on a totally different 12 color project instead!

What else could I do in TWELVTY?

Well, you might like to make a regular art journal, with single coloured spreads for each segment. I’ve done this twice already (I’ll share my pages & the process from each as we go along – but I’ve got flip throughs in my youTubes over here).I love both these books! A few of the TWELVTY 2017 group have made art journals and they are all fabulous.

You might want to do something totally different and make a 12 part body of art work featuring each color. This could be

  • A series of photographs or drawings.
  • You could make a vlog about each color, showing where you find it and how it makes you feel.
  • You could write a poem inspired by thoughts on each color
  • Or paint a landscape through the seasons and times of day showing color changes.
  • Really – anything you can do in color you can do in TWELVTY! how about cake decorating? I’d love if you made 12 cakes through TWELVTY, iced them in the 12 colors and showed us photos!

This year we had a Twelveteer make a prayer flag in each color, and these are just awesome! I strongly encourage you to find a process you want to explore in different colors 🙂

Color is everywhere: the ONLY LIMIT is your imagination!

photo_hunt-6colmedium

What do I need for TWELVTY?

Is there an art supplies list? Do I have to get loads of new stuff?

I’m a big proponent of using what we already have. Firstly so we don’t get freaked out with the expense/bewildering variety of art supplies. Mainly cos I like the way it stretches the creative muscle to be inventive. 

I use a range of different paints and media which I’ve spent a lifetime collecting. I also use a load of recycled and reclaimed materials – scraps of paper and card, old magazines and junk mail, offcuts of fabric and trimmings… packaging I don’t want to end up in landfill often winds its way into my art!

There’ll be a comprehensive list of suggestedsupplies in the welcome pack, and I’ll explain how we’ll use them so you can make up your mind if you need to get anything extra.
The minimumyou’ll need to play along is some paper, and the three primary colors: yellow, red & blue. This can be acrylic paint, craft paint, poster paint, watercolor, or it could be crayons or markers, or coloured paper to collage, any combination of these.

(That said, if you’re asking permission to run around the art store squealing Woohoo – new project – gotta get me all the new colors!! And it’s not gonna get you in trouble with the grown ups in your life or your bank account then go right ahead!)

We begin the journey in the new year, but registration is open now

I think it speaks for itself that some of this year’s Twelveteers have already joined up for a second trip around the color wheel in 2018!

 I’ve reduced the price this year to make it accessible to as many folks as possible. The cost for the whole year long adventure is just £97.00 GBP

Wanna hop aboard now? Click right here! 

Is there anything else you’re still wondering about? In my giddy excitement did I forget to answer your question? Comment below or message me if there’s anything else you’d like to know!

To be first to hear about my colorful antics and get discounts on  courses like TWELVTY , just hop onto my email list right here.

(and I’ll send you my ebook A Year full of Color as a thank you for joining)
YearFullOfColorbyPennGregoryR2017_Page_01

Your email is utterly safe to me. I’ll sing it to sleep when it lands with me, and bring it tea when it wakes up.

Looking forwards

What’s really beautiful, is within the group of creatives brought together by TWELVTY, there’s such a diversity of talent and such a fabulous range of expression. When you take a subject like color which can be applied to most every medium, it translates such variety of techniques and media and manifests a constant source of inspiration

The What & The Where

Throughout 2017 I’ve been running an online program called TWELVTY in which we explore the color wheel one month and one color at a time. It’s been a fantastic journey (which isn’t over yet: we still have orange-yellow left to explore)

What’s really beautiful, is within the group of creatives brought together by TWELVTY, there’s such a diversity of talent & range of expression. 

From painters to weavers, textile artists, photographers, mixed media creatives and writers. Between us we are much more than the sum of our parts.

When you take a subject like color which can be applied to most every medium, it translates such variety of techniques and media and manifests a constant source of inspiration:

I see that embroidery and it inspires an idea for a photo series; I see this painting and the idea for a video starts to come to life. The drawing which tells a story, inspires a song or a poem.

Ideas are cross-pollinating all over the place!!

When I set out on this adventure at the beginning of the year, I really thought it would be a one-off. But so much has surprised me along the way. TWELVTY soon began to gather momentum, to take on an energy of its own, and it seems like it doesn’t want to end here.

So I’ve made a couple of little tweaks, and I’m excited to present: 

TWELVTY 2018: What’s new?

The structure has shifted:  Instead of each month dedicated solely to one color, we are quickening the pace of the color steps in order to spend a little more time exploring the territory for our color adventure.

This gives us time at the start of the year to get to take a bird’s eye view, get to know the the color wheel, and gather our colors together.

Then we’ll take each segment of the color wheel in a three week block.

At the end of our journey there will be space to consolidate what we’ve learned, and bring it all together.

As well as all the resources I’ve gathered and curated for each color through this first year of TWELVTY, I’m also planning something new!

Something colorful and fun! Something that will bring joy to your inner kid (or actual kids – this could be a family project)

Each color segment will have a step-by-step illustrated guide where I show you ways I like to play with mixed media. You can use these for inspiration, or your own techniques, as in each color we are going to add to our year long project: To create a 3-D Color Wheel!

This will be a resource you can come back to again and again when you ‘re looking for ideas in your creative practice.

We begin the journey in the new year, but registration is open now

I think it speaks for itself that some of this year’s Twelveteers have already joined up for a second trip around the color wheel in 2018!

 I’ve reduced the price this year to make it accessible to as many folks as possible. The cost for the year long adventure is just £97.00 GBP

Wanna hop aboard now? Click right here! 

I’ll post some more info in a Q&A later in the week – so if you’ve any Qs that need an A – ask me in the comments below and I’ll add them in! 

Just some of the colourful antics from TWELVTY 2017!

Be first to hear about my colorful antics, hop onto my email list right here.

(and I’ll send you my ebook A Year full of Color as a thank you for joining)
YearFullOfColorbyPennGregoryR2017_Page_01

Your email is utterly safe to me. I’ll sing it to sleep when it lands with me, and bring it tea when it wakes up.

A life full of color

Some lifetimes ago, a sixteen year old version of me failed to get the place in art school that she’d pinned all her early hopes to.

Dismissed by the grown ups who’d repeatedly explained: ‘being an artist isn’t realistic’ led to years floating adrift from my calling.

(They were wrong. And this isn’t what I do, I’ve come to realise, it’s what I am)

Some lifetimes ago, a sixteen year old version of me failed to get the place in art school that she’d pinned all her early hopes to.

Dismissed by the grown ups who’d repeatedly explained: ‘being an artist isn’t realistic’ led to years floating adrift from my calling.

(They were wrong. And this isn’t what I do, I’ve come to realise, it’s what I am)

A few years ago, rattled by some mid-life reminders of mortality, I finally fulfilled my life long ambition. But being an art student was as far as I’d thought this plan through. After spinning around in a self made feedback loop of regret for two decades, while I loved my time at college, I’d completely lost sight of the purpose.

My confusion was confounded when my course was cancelled after the foundation year. Before I’d time to consider my options my personal life fell apart, as a few weeks later my mum died.

Now I was free falling and had to find something to grasp onto, something simple I could rely on to slow the descent.  

I needed a project to latch my focus to. I needed a subject I could immerse myself in. It had to be something creative, it had to be something colourful.

It just had to be color.

 

 

I hadn’t the bandwidth for anything more complex. I needed colors, but one at a time. No other rules. Just me, a book, and whatever paints and pens and things I had to hand. In just one color. I began with the color I felt most drawn to at the time, which was red-violet, magenta. It was soothing. It was all I had space for.

I took that year, one color at a time, one month at a time.

 

 

After another family bereavement a couple of months into my year long color project, I knew I needed some accountability, some way to keep this project afloat. That’s when I started this blog.

By the end of the year I’d created a this whole book full of color.

 

edit20121211_0251

It’s still with me in my studio as a resource for inspiration – (that’s something I didn’t foresee when I began this project.)

(You can see it page by page here)

12 in 12 from mixy gecko on Vimeo.

 

 

As I showed my book of 12 colors to more of my artist friends, the idea of revisiting a year full of color began to develop. And they wanted in on it too.

So in 2017 I invented “TWELVTY“,  a way of sharing the adventure around the color wheel with other creatives as an online program.

It’s been an astonishing journey, (which isn’t over yet) and I’ve learned so much (more on that in another post).

I didn’t expect to run Twelvty as a program with others again after this year – it’s been all consuming and I had other plans for 2018 – but Twelvty has plans for me too, it would appear. 

So here we are, in preparation for:

TWELVTY2018_800x310

We begin the journey in the new year, but registration is open from November.

I think it speaks for itself that some of this year’s Twelveteers have already joined up for a second trip around the color wheel in 2018!

There are a limited number of discounted places available to folks on my mailing list. If you aren’t signed up already – what the hey?!! – scoot down to the end of this post to add your email before they’re all swooped up!

 

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