A rainy afternoon in a Kyoto fabric shop changed how I think about color

I was stuck in this tiny shop for about two hours because of a downpour, so I just started looking at all the fabric rolls. The owner, an older woman, saw me and without a word, she pulled out three bolts of indigo cloth, each a slightly different shade. She laid them next to a bolt of faded orange silk, and the way those blues popped against the warm tone just clicked for me. I used to pick one main color and match others to it, but now I look for that one contrasting piece first to build the whole palette around. It's made my last three designs way more interesting. Has anyone else had a moment like that, where seeing colors in a new place totally shifted your process?

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lindagreen5mo ago

Honestly feels like people make these moments into way bigger deals than they are. You saw some pretty fabric in the rain and now you pick colors in a different order, lol. It's not like you discovered a new color wheel. My process changed because I ran out of my usual paint and had to use what was left, it was fine. These stories always sound so deep but it's just looking at stuff.

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lily_ramirez45mo ago

Right? I read one where someone said their whole art style changed after watching a sunset through a foggy bus window. Like, okay, you liked the soft edges. I started using more blue because the store was out of black that one time and I had to make it work. It's just stuff that happens.

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williamprice2mo ago

Yeah that's fair, pretty much what I was thinking too.

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