Colour has been a fundamental part of my work since my university days when I did printmaking. I can talk about this endlessly, and one tiny blog will not do this vast topic any justice at all, nevertheless, I shall attempt it. I became enchanted by the subtle variations of colour and devoted months and years to its study. Back then, I couldn't grasp why I was so drawn to this obsession, but now I see how vital it is to my creative process. My interest in the colour yellow motivated me to focus my dissertation on its history.

Below are some colour studies I produced, though many have been lost during my moves around the world.

Once again, the colours I started with at White Pomegranate were very bright and vivid, which was ideal for our signature collection at the time, ‘Bauhaus’. As the design sensibility evolved, so did the colour. The one thing that struck me through the process of printmaking was that colour was never immediate; we had to build it in layers to get the colour we wanted.

For WhitePomegranate the colour build-up happened very organically. It started with a set of neutrals, then warm tones followed by a set of cool tones, and we played with each colour tonally and ended up producing 118 colours on the linen bases we were using, plus others to create colours that appealed to us. Cloth base was preferable to paper bases as we could get a good idea of this moving forward.

It was broad, making it very challenging to narrow it down to just eight colours, but this would become the foundation upon which we built. These were again inspired by nature. Pinpointing when it all began is difficult. I suppose it was always present in some form, but never consistent. It was time to revamp everything in the company: the design, the base, and most obviously, the colours.

Beauty was found in the colours of dried flowers and leaves. Observing the transition of colour from one stage to another before it fully dried was fascinating, as it gradually changed over time. I have always preferred colours that were not too obvious; more than that, I favoured colours that were slightly muddy or dirty- colours that perhaps seemed a little more lived-in rather than fresh off the press, as they say. Historically, most colours were derived from nature, and these colours had a beautifully muted, subtle look, nothing overpowering except for the lush indigos and yellows, of course. I wanted to surrender to the process to determine the outcome.

Once the colours were selected, we underwent numerous trials of prints through different processes to determine which colours would remain intact, which would not bleed, and which would not fade. Most faded slightly due to the process, but this also contributed to the fabric's look, giving it a lived-in appearance. I also appreciate fabrics that feel soft against the skin, and with these colours and techniques, we hit the jackpot! It is more science than design when it comes to colour and achieving the right balance in textiles. Producing soft fabrics that have full-coverage prints is even more difficult, yet we managed to achieve that. The process ultimately determines the final colour. 

Here are some of the colours that we derived from nature…

Inspiration for our grey and neutral tones was derived from the barks of trees with lichens growing on them.

Peachy pink tones were taken from dried flowers of the bougainvillea flowers and leaves

The terracotta's were taken from dried 'powder puff' flowers

And the beiges and mustard tones were derived from brans. 

The chemistry of applying colours on paper and colours on cloth is different in the way you mix them. And in our case, it is further determined by the process. I think most print designers stop at the colour and curing stage, so what they print with is what they get but the USP of our hand-screen printed fabrics is that the prints are ingrained into the fabric as opposed to sitting on top as a superficial layer. Achieving this in print is not easy as the risk factors are huge and in our colour process, the colour goes through changes at every step of the finishing process. So, what we begin with is not what we end up with, exactly how nature transforms colour. We take our queue from that.  

Colour is also very subjective. Some people like bright colours as that makes them happy, some like subtle colours as that make them feel calm. I like a balance. I also feel strongly that architecture and light play a significant role in what colour you can and can’t use for a particular space and designers need to adapt to that.

Our print collection may be subtle, but the pops of colour come in, from our embroideries and block prints and when you see the fabrics in their entirety it all works together very nicely. It looks wholesome and substantial and is a good foundation to then expand upon.

As a company, we are averse to using a lot of dyed fabrics (although our base fabrics are dyed to ivory tones) and prefer to keep our fabric more natural. We will of course add in a few coloured plain bases to tie the whole collection together but for now, the colours are being balanced with our prints, from full coverage to light coverage. 

Different countries also have different colour preferences, so at the end of the day one must produce only what one resonates with and whoever likes it, likes it. It is very hard to please all and that is certainly not the intention.