The Studio

Be careful, we're crafty! Community chat for crafts.stackexcha...
Mar 1, 2023 14:00
@tripleee, on the grips for felting needles question, I agree with the gist of your comment to the poster on the answer you flagged, but maybe cut new contributors a little slack so we don't scare them away. "abuse the answering mechanism" and "vandalizing the site" is pretty strong for a new user trying to be helpful. It would be better to just give them some friendly, constructive guidance. This is supposed to be a "fun" site. :-)
Feb 11, 2023 00:28
Worst case, it might need to be migrated or closed, but no harm done.
Feb 11, 2023 00:28
@redfrogcrab, sorry for the delay in responding. Our chat room hardly ever gets used, so we don't check it often enough. re: model train/diorama questions, they might well be on-topic here, but the site doesn't base topicality on the subject matter. The focus of the site is hand-making art and crafts (and some peripheral topics). So if the question relates to making them, it's probably on-topic. If you're not sure, just post it. People will make suggestions from there if needed.
Feb 4, 2023 19:28
@Randal'Thor, oh, you're right. Thanks. Matt posted a lot of good stuff. He still drops in to look around occasionally but hasn't posted anything in years. But the historical posts are still attracting upvotes. It would have been a really tough target to pass if he was still active. :-)
Jan 17, 2023 17:05
As a frequent issue related to travel, Travel might have more potential answerers. But if it's off-topic for Travel, I wouldn't close it here myself, although I could envision some people seeing it as off-topic. Let's see if another mod weighs in.
Jan 17, 2023 17:05
@RoryAlsop, that looks for Arts & Crafts sort of how it looks for Travel--related to the site topics, and there are probably a few users who could answer it coincidentally, but at the edge. Most of the requirements this site deals with relate more to static appearance than dynamic performance. Picking the right foam for a performance requirement is more of an engineering or material science question.
Jan 13, 2023 01:18
@Randal'Thor, Congrats on another modship. Will that leave time to sleep? :-)
Jan 13, 2023 01:12
But have at it if you want to try to modify it. I can also bring it to the attention of the other mods here in case they want to weigh in.
Jan 13, 2023 01:12
As far as expected participation here, the regulars in this community who are artists (as opposed to primarily crafters), seem to be mostly professionals, serious amateurs, or serious students. I'm just guessing that an activity of drawing characters in response to prompts wouldn't sound like fun, and might sound like a kid's exercise or "remedial" (and unnecessary). There also is generally very little participation in "events".
Jan 13, 2023 01:11
@AncientSwordRage, hope I didn't misunderstand the event. "Fat February" and fat acceptance seemed like event killers out of the gate for the platform. In terms of the activity, drawing all kinds of body shapes would be a lot safer than drawing just fat people.
Jan 12, 2023 18:16
@Randal'Thor, thanks. And good to see you here again. :-)
 
Feb 4, 2023 14:37
@user5441400, the question got some upvotes after the edits, so that's a good sign. It's an unusual question, so it may take people a while to answer. Keep checking back on it. I got a few ideas from our discussion. Not sure how useful they will be, but I'll look at putting them into an answer.
Feb 3, 2023 20:56
BTW, if you haven't used chat rooms on the platform before, people won't be aware of anything posted here unless they happen to stumble across it. You can ping a user with @username so an alert shows up in their in box.
Feb 3, 2023 20:56
(For later)--A thought: The purpose of a "12 hour wheel" is that 12 is a good number for showing relationships like complements. 12 is a multiple for showing relationships between 2 colors and 3 colors. In your project, the wheel won't have those normal relationships. You're limiting your options by sticking with an arbitrary 12 division wheel. Why not go the other direction. Add divisions to the wheel where needed so that the distances are better? Just a thought. :-)
Feb 3, 2023 20:29
I like the bottom one. I'm wondering if it would help people picture it in their minds to add that 2 gradients provides more freedom in placing colors.
Feb 3, 2023 20:25
OK, you beat me to it.
Feb 3, 2023 20:24
I was thinking more an explicit statement that you want to reposition colors around the wheel so the distances between them look better. That might produce an "ahah!"
Feb 3, 2023 20:16
@user5441400 including that in the question might jump-start people thinking in the right direction.
Feb 3, 2023 20:15
Just intuitively, my assumption would be that the closer the wheel got to the color distribution of the vision system, the better it would appear. The standard color wheel model has to distort that in order to align colors so complements line up, etc.
Feb 3, 2023 20:10
I need to think about the ramifications, but that might be a way to frame it in the question that people could relate to.
Feb 3, 2023 20:08
It seems like what your approach does is reposition colors around the wheel so that the distances apart are better.
Feb 3, 2023 20:05
@user5441400, a couple of thoughts. The question suggests various workarounds to fill in the missing colors. If you're going to do that, why do you need to start with colors that aren't complements. Why not start with, say yellow and blue, and then use the workarounds to fill in the other colors? Starting with purple just distorts the color's position on the wheel.
Feb 3, 2023 19:54
@user5441400, that's the conundrum. A color wheel based on true primary colors works like that because that's how the vision system works. You're trying to use the format of a color wheel for a different purpose. I think you can have one purpose or the other, but not both in the same color wheel. You can use the format to get to harmonious colors, but the wheel won't have the normal relationships.
Feb 3, 2023 19:51
@user5441400, yeah, I can't think of anything better. That pretty much describes it.
Feb 3, 2023 19:49
@user5441400, yeah, I was looking at that trying to figure out how it might be better worded. Let me cogitate on that.
Feb 3, 2023 19:40
Maybe refer to it as "starting with 2 base colors" or something similar so readers can get past that point. @user5441400
Feb 3, 2023 19:40
Much better. One thing that might still help: The question states "using just 2 colors". That, alone, would give you two sides of the circle that are identical. So you introduce workarounds to get the additional colors and make each side different. Those workarounds use additional colors. So the idea isn't really limiting it to 2 colors, the 2 colors are a starting point. People will get hung up on the "only 2 colors".
Feb 3, 2023 19:18
Once you're happy with it, we can undelete it. Let me know if you want to do that.
Feb 3, 2023 19:17
@user5441400, it just occurred to me that there's a way to edit the question and talk about it before posting without generating a string of re-edits if that would be easier to do. Anything posted in this room is limited to 600 character chunks, so it's hard to do it here. I can temporarily delete the question, which hides it from everyone but you, moderators and high-rep users, and doesn't bump edits to the main page. You can still edit it, and I could even propose edits.
Feb 3, 2023 19:11
I'd have to think about a good way to do that.
Feb 3, 2023 19:11
The third is the unconventional way you want to use a color wheel. People see the term "color wheel" and immediately think of something that has certain relationships to true primary colors, and models color relationships of human vision in the relationships between the colors. You're using it in a somewhat different way, which would be easier for people to understand if there's a way to clarify early that you're creating an unconventional color wheel for a specific purpose.
Feb 3, 2023 19:06
The second is "primary colors". Your meaning in the question is more base colors that you build the color wheel from. It is common to refer to the basic pallet of building block colors as primary colors, but the term also has a restricted meaning referring to specific colors that can't be created from other colors. Those would be a non-starter for what you want to do. Adding a sentence at the beginning to clarify your meaning of the term will get readers past that stunbling block.
Feb 3, 2023 19:01
I think there are three main stumbling blocks for readers (the title plus two).
Feb 3, 2023 18:59
Want to take a shot at seeing if we can do that before tackling a rewrite?
Feb 3, 2023 18:59
It probably isn't necessary to go that far if we can just get people past the preconceived ideas they apply when reading it.
Feb 3, 2023 18:56
It might be worth figuring out everything to change and then doing one edit. Yeah, that's a much better title, but I would use "harmonious" instead of "harmonic". "Harmonic" is another one of those words that can have a totally different meaning.
Feb 3, 2023 18:53
@user5441400, I'm starting to see where you're going with this. From my own initial reaction to the question and other people's comments, I think people are reading the words in the question, especially at the start, and focusing on other things those terms mean to them. So they're not getting to the concept your writing about.
Feb 3, 2023 18:44
@user5441400, I think the earlier discussion about the title would be a big start. Everybody seems to be tripping over "2 primary colors" based on a different interpretation of "primary colors" and what using just two means here. Making the title about your objective of harmonious colors would create a mental framework for people to start hanging the thoughts in the question on.
Feb 3, 2023 18:39
I can relate what confused me and what I picked up from the other comments.
Feb 3, 2023 18:38
Hi, again. :-)
Feb 3, 2023 18:33
If you introduce more colors to differentiate the 2 sides, you really have a 4 color base. In either case, the wheel no longer represents relationships in the vision system. It's just a circular chart with a fixed number of divisions. That might be useful for identifying harmonious colors, but it isn't really a color wheel as people think of that term. So people get hung up on the terminology and miss your objective.
Feb 3, 2023 18:33
Feb 3, 2023 18:33
If the title frames it as that, they start reading the question without preconceived ideas, and fit what they read into the framework of that goal. Separate from the title, just commenting on using 2 base colors: sure you could do that, but I'm not sure it accomplishes your goal. The color wheel works as a tool because all the relationships basically mirror how vision works--what colors are opposite each other, etc. If you start with just 2 base colors, all you have is 2 copies of the same straight path arranged in a circle. (cont'd)
Feb 3, 2023 18:33
The plot thickens. :-) There's really 2 Qs, one is using 2 base colors in a color wheel (not true primary colors and possibly with additional colors, so not really just 2), to accomplish your objective, the other is using 2 true primary colors to create all colors. People can't get past the second meaning because that is impossible. Plus the question gets into manipulations that involve more than 2 colors. People aren't getting to your ultimate object of harmonious colors. (cont'd)
Feb 3, 2023 18:33
Part of people's confusion may be with the terminology and the title. It might be good to clarify in the question that this use of "primary colors" refers to the base pallet used to mix other colors rather than colors that can't be created from other colors. Also, the title doesn't seem to reflect what you want to know. People are getting hung up on the fact that it is impossible to create all colors from two primary colors, and that isn't really what's described in the question. What about changing the title to something more along the lines of how to find more harmonious colors?
Feb 3, 2023 18:33
Just a thought: it's possible that the reason the color wheel doesn't look good with certain base colors is because the wheel, the tool itself, isn't an accurate representation of color vision. The number of divisions between base colors on the wheel is different from the distribution of colors we see. If you use the circular arrangement but make the share of divisions proportional to color vision, that might give you a more accurate assessment.
Feb 3, 2023 18:33
A number of people are weighing in and it seems like none of us are understanding your objective. Lets say you could find the perfect base colors to make the color wheel look good to you. How would you then use those colors?
Feb 3, 2023 18:33
You're using a "color wheel" as really just arranging some arbitrary colors in a circle and filling in a fixed number of intermediate colors. The circular arrangement isn't contributing anything using it this way. You could pick two of the starting colors and arrange them in a row with as many divisions as you want. The gradient reflects how far apart the colors are and how many divisions you create between them. It's all based on an arbitrary starting point. If the starting colors are farther apart, the gradient will be bigger steps of color change.
Feb 3, 2023 18:33
Those base colors already contain colors other than the primary, and you can't remove the other primaries to leave a pure primary. If you neutralize the additional colors, that produces black, which is still a component, so it doesn't leave a pure primary.
Feb 3, 2023 18:33
@user5441400, re: blending colors to create a primary color. You're using the term "primary" to refer to whatever base colors you start with to blend other colors. Those aren't primary colors unless they are true primary colors. Primary colors aren't just points on a color wheel or selectable base colors. They are colors that can't be created from other colors. Think of it as anything other than true primary colors are secondary colors that have been made from primaries. They are a primary plus some amount of other primaries. (cont'd)