Inventing A New Colour
One of the things I am best at is definitely colouring in. I know this because Otter Keeper is always really impressed whenever I show him anything I’ve done. Colouring in is like reading, it can be REALLY hard, but the more you practice the better you get. Me and Teddy try to aim for a minimum of 2 to 3 hours of colouring in each day. When I’m bigger I might be a professional “colourer in”, then I’d get to colour really important things like maps… or adverts.
Anyway the other day something happened that had never happened before. We were busy colouring a page from our favourite colouring book… it was quite a complex picture (Teddy couldn’t help and was just watching) when all of a sudden we ran out of colours! We had actually used them all! Someone who isn’t very experienced at colouring in would probably give up and get quite frustrated at this point. But instead, I had the best idea ever! Me and Teddy would just invent a new colour.
We ran the idea by Otter Keeper (we like to do this, as sometimes he has been known to give useful advice) but NOT today. He said it was ‘impossible to invent a new colour Otter’ as they had already all been invented. How silly of him, that’s probably what they said to the person who invented fluorescent highlighters before they existed. Fluorescent colours are magic – even Otter Keeper can’t explain them and he can explain almost anything.
We started off with our paints and mixed the red with the blue, this gave us purple which was a great start. We then mixed in some yellow which made a brownish type of colour which was also very promising. Me and Teddy both felt this brown was a really good brown. We tried mixing more colours and the brown changed to a slightly different brown. We realised we were really quite good at making browns.
After a long time mixing we got a bit bored of making browns. It was then that Teddy cleverly suggested we needed to “think outside of the box”. This is what Otter Keeper says sometimes when he’s trying to think of a solution to a difficult problem (It’s also a good thing to say if you’re making a secret den inside a cardboard box and get stuck thinking what to do next).
After a while of thinking outside of the box we realised it didn’t really help. However seeing as we’d been thinking about boxes we decided to leave the new colour till another day and transfer our efforts into making a spaceship out of an old shoebox . Otter Keeper gave it to us last week and me and Teddy have been wondering what to do with it for a while. If you’re having trouble mixing a new colour, making a spaceship is a particularly good thing to do instead.
I’ll probably be tied up with my spaceship project for a while now. Teddy says he will try and find time to continue work on our new colour next week (I think he feels a bit guilty because he made several bad decisions during the mixing process – technically it’s mostly his fault we didn’t discover a new colour).
Wow I think that inventing colors is very complicated, I think making a spaceship is a great idea, I hope to see a story about it 🙂
Wow I think that making a spaceship might be more fun than a new color and if you fly to a new planet you might even find new colors.
What a wonderful evening to hear from Otter and Teddy!and what a clever DOUBLE!! story–inventing new colors AND making a space ship! I bet that when you and Teddy finish making the Space Ship that you Colour it in with the new colors you invent!! YEAH!! but otter–please dont blame Teddy for not discovering a new colour yet! It’s not always his fault, right! But any way, thanks so much for sharing your new story–again–with us! You and Teddy are so talented-and very much loved! I know how much fun it is to colour things in— I myself still love to
colour! There’s nothing quite like a new box of crayons!
SO please promise to stay in touch and let us know how the space ship is
coming along AND any new colours you invent !
Have a wonderful week Otter and Teddy and let’s hope you have a very
special and creative weekend!
Mixing new colours in tricky….and I always find I haven’t mixed enough which is really annoying and I can’t finish my picture. I think making a space ship is a much better idea, I am going to find a box right now!
I like television shows with space ships in them, so I think making a space ship is a much smarter idea anyway. But, when you do find your new color, you might want to decorate your space ship with it!
How lovely it is to see you and Teddy mixing paint – you look so adorable. My favourite colour is turquoise. Maybe there is really a colour that nobody has made yet! I bet your spaceship is the best ever. XX
This blog keeper should turn Otter and Teddy into a children’s book series, it would be fantastic!
Wow, terrific! Wonderful story and pictures. I also like the spaceship idea. Spaceships are so awesomely useful that I do not think you will regret setting aside the new color project for it. Love your art – very whimsical and expressive (to use two slightly tired by very apt words).
Ended up here via deviantART as a result of a Tumblr post. Which sounds a little crazy to me, but there you have it. :o)
You should definitely name the new color “otter.” I wish I could come color with you!
I really am inspired by your work and the characteristics that you present in each of your illustrations. I’m studying a graphics course at huddersfield university and would love to hear more about how you began coming up with your ideas and what gave you focus to your work. I’m currently set a brief on selected two artists for a case study and would like to talk about your work in more depth would be a great help if your had the spare time to contact me. Thankyou x
Hello Otter and Teddy. We love you very much and have given you the Liebster Blog Award. You may have received it already but maybe you’d like an extra one to colour in. Here’s the link to it http://wp.me/p1NbQD-a6 on our blog. Lots of love from the Cheetahs (and the Dinos, and the Banana People)
What a great story, Otter and Teddy! Can’t wait to see the colour and the spaceship. Hugs 🙂
Absolutely wonderful, I shall go and run around the beach tomorrow to show it how much I like it.
Oh wow, Otter and Teddy, I’ve only just met you but I feel as though I’ve known you all my life! You see, I am also a talented artist just like you. I could really do with your help painting my illustrated name paintings, my paws get awfully sore sometimes. I suppose that as I am a mouse, you might feel a little intimidated by me, but I think that we could put our three heads and whiskers together and crack the code to find this new colour of yours. It can’t be too hard surely. I’m a bit short of time these days with my 12 children to keep an eye on and my pictures to paint, but if you have a minute, why don’t you visit me and my friends in Alphabetville for a bit of brain storming. I love, love, love your adventure stories, and I think that I am a little in love with you too – I hope that doesn’t sound too forward of me….
Big hug to you both
Emmie Mouse
PS I found you on Twitter