Pantone Color of the Year: Color Conversions For 8 Mediums

Welcome to 2020!! I feel a little nervous about such an auspicious number….but a little excited about it too. I remember thinking when 2000 came I would be “really old” – so surviving another 20 years is a bonus after that, right!?!? Oh the things we say as children!

Anyhoo – it’s time for Pantone’s Color of the Year. They pick a new one each year and this time it’s Classic Blue, Pantone 19-4052, of which they say on their site: “Pantone post  Instilling calm, confidence, and connection, this enduring blue hue highlights our desire for a dependable and stable foundation on which to build as we cross the threshold into a new era.”

I did a ton of research to figure out what “one” color is “the” blue…and though I did mostly get there, any nice medium-to-dark blue that’s got a nice saturation to it will work! My research indicated that the named color number is not in any of the printers’ Pantone books, it’s a fabric color….but there’s a cooool site called Encycolorpedia that listed paint colors from brands of house paint. So I went around and gathered up color swatches to try to match the mediums I love to use! 

In my video today I’ll show you how I made my chart, as well as a Copic colored card using the pretty Copic blues! The colors for each medium I selected:

• Prismacolor – 902 Ultramarine
• Polychromos – 151 Helio Blue-Reddish
• Albrecht Durer  – 151 Helio Blue-Reddish
• DS Watercolor  – Prussian
• Copic Marker- B28
• Zig Clean Color – 037 Cornflour Blue
• Tombow  -565 Deep Blue
• Distress – Blueprint Sketch

The simple card uses Copic Markers on Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, my favorite coloring paper. Some of you might notice I didn’t start with the lightest color like usual; I just wanted to get those nice darks in there and make a simple pass or two for the lights, and not end up going over them repeatedly to blend; not coloring them first is one less layer!

The chart can be downloaded by clicking below….note that it is entirely BLANK so you can choose your own mediums and favorite blues. I printed mine on Arches Cold Press which can handle the mediums I chose, even if not well; at least it wouldn’t crinkle up. BUT you can also just make swatches 1-3/4” x 1-3/4″ to glue on, then you can print the page on whatever kind of cardstock you would like.
DOWNLOAD BLANK CHART

Finishing off the card was kept simple – just a popped panel on a colored card base. Remember to match some of the colors in the image when selecting a card base color – it’ll draw attention to those parts on the card. I sometimes choose whatever was a tiny accent color to make it stand out more.

The other cards shown here are in watercolor and watercolor pencil (below) and colored pencil (above). They’re all over on my blog today – where I have a discussion going about the “Palette Explorations” that are provided by Pantone.

Palette Explorations are colors that the designers at Pantone think work with the main color – so they all stem off the Classic Blue. While I never would have picked them myself, it’s interesting to learn from trying to use them – they’re making me get out colors I hardly ever use, and that’s always a good thing!

Hope your 2020 isn’t full of any kind of Blues except the CLASSIC kind!

Supplies: