Hand-dyeing linen

Needing to broaden the palette for my latest series, I started with some neutrals.

A satisfactory range of greys in hand-dyed, medium-weight linen

The most obvious neutral range is made with black dye, which produces a range of greys. I began with a depth-of-shade concentration of 8%, and then reduced it by half each time, to 4%, 2%, 1%, .5%, .25%, .125%, and .0625%. I should have begun with 10%, and that would have produced a stronger colour at each end, but nevertheless I'm satisfied with this range. It should prove to be useful in combination with other neutrals and as a foil to more vivid colours. A bit of a blue cast to the G&S Black dye.

Next, I did some experiments with golden yellow vs. lemon yellow, and black vs. navy. The navy produces a more green-green, but the black is more interesting and complex.

From left: 18 parts golden yellow: 1 part black (4% depth of shade)
18 golden yellow: 1 part navy (4% depth of shade)
18 lemon yellow: 1 part black (4% depth of shade)
18 lemon yellow: 1 part navy (4% depth of shade)

From left, 10 parts golden yellow: 1 part black (4% depth of shade)
10 parts golden yellow: 1 part navy (4% depth of shade)
10 parts golden yellow vs. 1 part black (2% depth of shade)
10 parts golden yellow: 1 part navy (2% depth of shade)

Finally, I wanted to create some interesting neutrals by mixing the complementary colours of orange and navy, and then orange and turquoise. When using pure-pigment MX dyes, these are the only complementaries available, because while there are a couple of reds, there is no pure green pigment. And while there are several yellows, there are no violets. Here are the results:

From left, 2 parts orange: 1 part navy (2% depth of shade)
5 parts orange: 1 part navy (2% depth of shade)
8 parts orange: 1 part navy (2% depth of shade)
2 parts orange: 1 part navy (5% depth of shade)
5 parts orange: 1 part navy (5% depth of shade)
8 parts orange: 1 part navy (5% depth of shade)
1 part orange: 1 part turquoise (2% depth of shade)
1 part orange : 1 part turquoise (5% depth of shade)

Note that I used extra-hot water when dyeing with turquoise. Also, observe how, with those last two, there is a real shift in hue, caused not by different proportions of pigment but by different intensities of pigment (depth of shade).

These colours produced by complementary pigments result in some very intriguing marbling, as seen below:

1 part orange: 1 part turquoise (2% depth of shade)

2 parts orange: 1 part navy (5% depth of shade)

An appealing complexity, no?