Warning: I dropped $80 on a fabric swatch book and it saved my whole collection

I was sketching a line based on some mood board pics, but the colors and textures in my head just weren't matching what I could find online. I kept ordering small samples that looked wrong in person, which was wasting time and cash. So I bit the bullet and got a big swatch book from a fabric supplier for about eighty bucks. Having all those physical pieces right in front of me changed everything. I could feel the weight, see how the light hit the weave, and test how colors worked together in real life. It helped me finalize three looks in a week because I wasn't guessing anymore. Has anyone else found a good physical resource that made the digital design part way easier?

3 comments

3 Comments

blair_butler471mo ago

Yeah, that part about seeing how light hits the weave is so real. I read an interview with a costume designer once who said screens lie about color depth and she always works with physical paint chips and fabric scraps first. She called it "getting your eyes right" before you even open a design program. Makes total sense that having the book in hand let you lock down three looks so fast.

sean_dixon961mo ago

My phone camera always makes my paint colors look wrong, @blair_butler47.

webb.stella5d ago

Fix that by turning off all auto-enhance settings in your camera app first, @sean_dixon96. The HDR and color boost features are the main culprits. Set your white balance manually with a piece of white printer paper in the same light as your painting, and take the photo in Pro mode if your phone has it. I've learned that even then, the blue light from screens makes warm reds look orange, so I always compare the photo to the real paint under a daylight bulb before trusting it.