Vanilla Beans: No Whites after Labor Day
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CHECKING IN…
Something weird happened this week. Normally by Wednesday, I’m so far behind with the weekly tasks and catching up on all the things I didn’t have time for last week…
Anyway, Wednesday is normally my Harsh Reality Sets-In day.
But because I’m doing a bit less now, on Wednesday afternoon, I finished my last task and then worked on the pencil course which is something I normally do on nights and weekends.
It feels very weird— like I left the iron on inside the oven which is also on.
But progress is being made during daylight hours.
Always a good sign!
NO WHITE AFTER LABOR DAY
This month, we’re talking about grandma’s fashion guide.
You can gather some pretty good art tips if you pay attention to what the old folks wore.
Last week, we started with undergarments and girdles which secretly provide shape and structure to the body and also, our art.
Secret is the key word there.
This week, let’s explore the “No white after Labor Day” rule.
My mother followed the No White law religiously.
At the end of every summer, she’d pack away her white sandals and pumps and pull out her beige shoes. She called them “ecru”.
Yes, I was the only six year old on the planet who knew the color ecru.
Her purses, scarves, pants, and skirts— everything white but her pearls would be tucked into quilted bags and tissue lined boxes. Buff, bone, and cream were her winter whites.
My mother hated that I wore white Keds year round. I was a teenage rebel.
According to the finest internet experts, the no-white rule started because the upper class was being snobby again. Only the lower classes would be silly enough to wear white after the cut-off.
But I’m not buying that. Here’s why:
My mother (born in 1942) said “Don’t wear white after Labor Day.”
But my grandmothers (1913 & 1918) both said “No whites after Labor Day.”
Spot the difference?
Today we have climate control. Heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer. Thanks to menopause, I switch every ten minutes.
It’s not just room temperature. Ever since Olivia Newton John donned a pair of pink leg warmers, we’ve been wearing breathable Lycra and Spandex. The modern wardrobe is full of athletic materials.
But once upon a time, everyone wore drapery.
Bob Mackie was famous for fashion design but his marker illustrations were amazing!
And yes, I do mean like Scarlet O’Hara borrowing the parlor curtains.
Funny, Julie Andrews did the same thing in The Sound of Music, but no one remembers that.
Fabric used to be heavy. Durable too. Think about it, most men only owned two pair of pants; one to wear and one to wash. They wore the same thing, every day, all year round.
When the British headed to India, they discovered the joys of linen, lawn, and seer-sucker.
Breathable fabrics for hot climates.
Voila! Summer Whites were born. Looser cuts, wider sleeves, open necklines, lighter colors, fewer layers. Keepin’ it cool with light weaves.
White wasn’t a color.
Whites were what you wore when it was too darned hot for standard clothes.
Summer whites are great in July but completely unsuitable for Detroit in December.
“No whites after Labor Day” was the old way of saying “get those flip-flops off your feet before you freeze to death!”
Seasonality is important in art.
Unfortunately, this is something most hobby colorers completely miss.
Ask any Copic fan and they’ll tell you their favorite red blend.
Then we use this magical red on Valentine hearts, sunny geraniums, harvest apples, and Santa’s red hat.
R29-27-24 has been rated by Consumer Reports as the top red combo, three hundred years in a row. You wear this red combo every day like an old-timer’s pants.
Do you realize you’re in a rut?
Every color we use sends a seasonally specific message, whether you realize it or not.
And frankly, most of you are wearing a bikini to the Christmas concert.
“Please color a fall leaf.”
Everyone pulls out the brightest orange they can find.
“No, seriously. I want you to color a nice fall leaf.”
Now everyone scrounges for a red-yellow-orange color palette using the same darned orange.
But autumnal orange is not the standard YR combo you’re holding.
Fall has a smoky, rustic, hygge feel to it. Autumn is the sun riding lower in the sky, longer shadows, and the brown decay smell of the earth reclaiming spent nutrients.
You can’t capture the essence of fall with YR04.
Road cone orange is not seasonally appropriate.
You’re wearing whites after Labor Day.
Ask about color theory and fourteen experts pull out a color wheel and yadda-yadda the same ol’ speech about split complements and triads.
You’ve heard it forty times and it still doesn’t make a lick of sense, does it? You can stare at a color wheel all the livelong day and not be a bit smarter about the theories of color usage.
Instead, close your eyes and stretch your mind.
Summer is here.
How does summer feel to you?
Summer to me is mint iced tea on the back deck. The sun warms the red cedar boards which feels good in the morning but it’s too hot for bare feet in the afternoon. Sunlight bounces off the pool dancing spiderwebs of light across the side of the house. The potted ferns glow like neon against the darker green of the trees and lawn beyond.
And there’s a golden sleepiness to the air in summer. It wants you to sneak secret cat-naps in a hammock.
So when I’m coloring a summer project, I’m not shopping for chilly blue-shift colors. Even summer blues have a warm red base underneath.
Summer is a feeling you can’t find on a color wheel but you know it in your heart because you’ve lived it for years.
Someone asked this week where I get my color palettes.
Honestly, I don’t know if they meant my palette series here or my workshop supply lists. They asked which app I use, not understanding that color palettes are inspired by the environment rather than calculated in a lab.
It’s not the colors that make a summer palette.
It’s the feelings you trigger.
The best green blend, the best pink or the best white…
Stop. You’re missing the reason for the rule. Stop taking the figurative literal.
No whites after Labor Day means being aware of your surroundings and changing your actions to match what’s happening in the natural world.
Art means nothing if it’s not relatable.
Color is one of the easiest ways to connect with your viewers.
You’re sitting on a giant stash of markers and pencils right now but odds are, you use the same blends for everything. That’s fine if you’re a beginner but no beginner dreams of buying 358 markers, then only using the same three R markers for the next decade.
If you’re not checking the weather before you get dressed in the morning, you’ll pay for it later in shivers or sweat stains.
And if you’re not thinking deeper about the temperature, tone, and mood of the colors in your hand, your art suffers.
Seasonal whites.
They feel right.
Next week, we’ll talk about why black and navy clash.
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JUNE EVENTS
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CLOSING SOON!
We’re moving to a 6 month enrollment window for The Blend to make room for my new 12 week course.
OPEN ENROLLMENT ENDS JUNE 30
No new students for the summer/fall
The Blend will RE-OPEN on January 1, 2025
If you’ve already purchased The Blend, nothing changes.
You will ALWAYS have complete access to all lessons and the forum.
I’m only halting new purchases.
PRODUCT OF THE WEEK
MIXED FEELINGS
UP and Wonk members know I’m always on the lookout for opaque Copic-safe pens. We’re currently using Primrosia Acrylic Paint Pens but I’ve never heard of the company before and they could be gone tomorrow.
Creativation 2024 was basically a pen show this year. I made a list and I’m trying them all slowly. Pentel Mattehop are the only ones so far to be Copic Safe.
So yes, once Mattehop ink has fully dried, you can color right over the lines with Copic. Mattehop will not smear or damage your nibs.
But there are downsides: First, they feel cheap and primitive— like dollar store Bic pens. Second, becasue they’re ball point, it’s a total PITA to fill in spaces. Last, they were described at Creativation as “drying smooth” which was a big, fat lie. Filled areas are lumpy and full of trenches and train tracks.
Is Mattehop ink tintable? Yes and no. Copic over Mattehoppe does not rub off but it takes the ink so well that it might as well not even be there. Like I honestly wonder if we could use white Mattehop like white-out, covering a mistake, then covering the Mattehop with Copic. I don’t see any other point to something being so tintable it disappears entirely.
White was not in my “Sweet Set” of 7 so I can’t run the white-out experiment. Let me know if you try it.
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THIS WEEK IN COLOR
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JUNE DISCOUNT
Use code MACKINAC at checkout to save 15% on the Sweet Lilac artistic coloring kit. Special discount ends 06/30/2024.