Positively painterly
In this lounge, a wall in Resene Solitude has been given a gorgeous painterly treatment with a watercolour-style mural in shapes and colours inspired by an artistic cushion.
To make sure our colours would work well together, we uploaded a photo of our cushion to the free online Resene Colour Palette Generator. This nifty tool takes away the guesswork when it comes to putting together a colour scheme and is extremely helpful if you’re looking to build a particularly cohesive look.
Created using Resene FX Paint Effects mixed with Resene Tussock, Resene Saratoga, Resene Elephant, Resene Pirate Gold, Resene Calico, Resene Cobblestone and Resene Bubble White, the key to nailing this style of mural is not to overthink your brushstrokes and use the right tools. Keep movements soft and fluid, work up your layers and use a high-quality painter’s brush – a soft one with lots of bristles – plus a small flat artist’s brush to add more details. While the bulk of the work was done using the mid-range colours that the Resene Colour Palette Generator matched to the cushion, it’s the high-contrast details in dark blue Resene Elephant and olive green Resene Saratoga that add interest. Use these relatively sparingly, so as not to overwhelm.
Paint the rest of your surfaces using the same colour palette so that everything ties in together. To seal the look, use each colour on two surfaces. When combined with the cushion, every hue in your colour palette will follow the ‘rule of three’, a fundamental principle in interior decorating.
The rule, or guideline if you prefer, simply states that things arranged in odd numbers are more visually appealing to the human eye. Three seems to be the magic number for interior design, though the rule also applies nicely for groupings of five or seven.
For a more simplified palette, cool and dreamy pale blues like Resene Solitude also look lovely with mid-range indigo, purple-blue grey and brave, bright violets such as Resene Chetwode Blue, Resene Link Water or Resene Deep Koamaru. Try all four together to create a blue-based tonal look. Or, use it as an accent in a smoky grey palette built with Resene Foundry, Resene Raven and Resene Half Surrender.
resene.co.nz/palettegenerator
MOODBOARD Background in Resene Chino with A4 drawdown paint swatches (from top to bottom) in Resene Solitude, Resene Half Copyrite, Resene Elephant, Resene Pirate Gold, Resene Tussock, Resene Calico, Resene Gimblet, Resene Kombi and Resene Saratoga.
