Inspired by Armor

 

         At the turn of fall, I began hankering for new color inspiration. I'd become a little weary of my usual standbys and summer blues. I needed something fresh, unexpected, and fitting for fall. I pondered this question on my comfy armchair (as I often do) with color wheels flying through my imagination. Finally I speared a combination I found exciting: matte rusty, earthy red-brown and pure polished silver.

          To develop this color story, I looked for inspiration in art. While doing, so I stumbled upon the perfect 3-dimensional inspiration: armor! Armor has a reflective silver plated appearance, which is contrasted with utilitarian earthy embellishments like leather straps. I also fancifully imagined a knight's shining armor contrasting against his red steed, or the red earth on a jousting field. Hints of red rust can also be found on armor in need of polishing. I searched out some real life armor. These metal suits are stunning in real life. The photographs shown here are of German (right) and English (below) armor from roughly the 15th-16th centuries. The intricate detailing on some of the pieces, like the one below, was unbelievable. They seemed more like artwork than instruments of battle. (It is worth mentioning that these pieces belonged to nobility). These medieval peices were a wonderful inspiration for fall.

          To translate my inspiration into creation, I dug through my eyeshadow stash for red-browns and space-age silvers. Unfortunately, these colors were simply nonexistant in my collection. Red-browns are way too warm and red for my taste. True silvers and too cool and frosty for my taste. However, in combination these strong colors can balance each other out to create an interesting combination. The ideal eyeshadow colors I wanted to purchase for this project were MAC Electra and MAC Brown script. However, I'm saving up for some other things, so I made do with what I currently have. I layered some colors, as I would with paint, to create a close approximation of what I wanted . To get a matte red brown, I combined Urban Decay Buck with NARS Grand Palais (see swatch below). To got a more silvery silver, I combined NARS Tzarine (the grey) with Urban Decay Virgin. I also have a very silvery MUFE Aqua eyes eyeliner pencil in #8L. I also used hints of gold using Urban Decay Half Baked and Bare Escentuals Gold Medal. For this look, I use a wash of silver on the lid, with the brown on the outer corners or crease.

I really love the contrast between brown and silver!

          That concludes my "Inspired by Armor" color story. I have a lot of fun with these posts. My mini missions get me out of the house and looking for new ideas. Thank you to the girls who encouraged me to get this done!


Love, Dovey.