The color matching of the cloud brocade pattern, the main tone is bright and strong, with a solemn, elegant, bright and lofty momentum, this color matching technique is in the same vein as the painted decorative art of Chinese palace buildings.

As far as the ground color of the "makeup satin" fabric is concerned, light colors are rarely used. In addition to yellow is a special background color (only the emperor's robes and decorative fabrics can use yellow ground color), dark colors such as red, dark blue, royal blue, and dark green are mostly used as the background color (there are also black as the background color, but it is rarely used).

The color scheme of the main pattern is also mostly decorated with dark colors such as red, blue, green, purple (including sauce color), bronze, snuff, and Tibetan camel.

Due to the use of "color halo" and color harmony processing techniques, the heavy color flowers on the dark ground have obtained a good artistic effect, forming a solemn and elegant main tone of the overall color matching, which is very harmonious with the brilliant and luxurious and solemn atmosphere in the court, and plays a contrasting effect on the yellow imperial clothes of the feudal emperors.

In the color matching of cloud brocade patterns, many of them are handled according to the specific needs of the pattern and using romantic techniques. Such as the clouds in the sky, there are white clouds, gray clouds, dark clouds, ......, such as the cloud brocade commonly used in the various moire according to the real color of life to deal with, the result not only can not produce beauty, but destroy the harmony of the overall color of the pattern.

In the design of the cloud brocade pattern, the artists designed the cloud pattern as "Sihe Cloud", "Ruyi Cloud", "Qiqiao Cloud", "Xingyun", "Hook Cloud" and so on, which is based on the characteristics of different cloud potentials, using the law of formal beauty, idealizing and typifying.

Although it is far from the actual form of clouds in real life, people can easily recognize that it is a depiction of cloud patterns and feel that it is more beautiful than the real clouds. This is the moving effect achieved by typification and idealization in artistic creation.

Most of the colors of Yunjin makeup moire are decorated with red, blue and green colors, and light red, light blue and light green are used as halos, or white as halos, so as to enrich the changes in color levels and increase the beauty of their color rhythm.

Blue clouds and green clouds are contrary to the reality of life, but just like the "blue clouds" in the word, it has been popular for thousands of years, and no one says that it is not realistic, but on the contrary, they praise it for being expressive.

This color matching of the moire pattern on the cloud brocade makeup fabric is also this reason. It not only enriches the change of the color of the whole pattern, but also adds gold thread twisted edge, which is more in line with people's imagination and depiction of auspicious clouds, rui qi and fairy realm.

The combination of colorful auspicious clouds and golden dragons shows that the "dragon" soars above the nine heavens, which is more in line with the psychology of feudal rulers and is loved by rulers.

It is also like the lotus flower in life, there are red, pink, and white; However, the lotus flower in the cloud brocade pattern is mostly expressed in blue-gray or purple-gray colors. There are many applications of the pattern of "tangled branch lotus" in Yunjin, which is influenced by Buddhist art. Religious art often requires solemnity, composure, and serenity.

The blue-gray and purple-gray lotus flower, although contrary to the reality of life, conforms to the requirements of religion and the laws of art, because this color scheme is suitable for the needs of specific patterns and color changes, so people recognize it and love it.

In the color scheme of the cloud brocade pattern, a large number of gold and silver (gold thread, sheet gold, silver thread, sheet silver) two luster colors are also used. Two colors, gold and silver, can be blended with any color.

All the patterns in the "makeup" fabric are twisted with pieces of gold, and some of the patterns are also decorated with gold and silver threads ("Jinbaodi" fabrics, gold and silver threads are even more).

Gold and silver not only play a role in harmonizing and unifying the overall color in the cloud brocade pattern with strong color contrast, but also add a brilliant sense of richness to the whole fabric, making it more gorgeous and pleasing to the eye. This kind of gold and color, rich and brilliant color decoration effect, is the unique artistic characteristics of Yunjin.

The reason why the color matching of Yunjin makeup fabric can obtain a solemn and elegant effect of thick but not heavy, gaudy but vulgar, contrast but not exciting, is that it skillfully uses the decoration method of "color halo" and the processing skills of "piece of gold twisted edge" and "big white intermittent" contrast and harmony.

The so-called color halo is the expression of the shade, level and rhythm of color. The specific use of color halo (also known as "touch-up") is to weave the large theme flowers of the pattern and some large bin flowers with different shades of color.

Large theme flowers are generally expressed with "three halos". The bin flower of the larger block surface, depending on the size of the pattern block surface and the change of the overall color matching, has the "three halos" performance, and also uses the "two halos" performance.

Three halos, that is, the color scale divided into three levels; Two halos, that is, divided into two levels of color gradation, form a rhythmic, dark and shallow color level, showing the three-dimensional effect and vivid spirit of the pattern.

Due to the transition and change of the color scale, it not only weakens the stimulation of the color contrast between the ground and the flower, or between the flowers, but also adds the rhythm and rhythm of the color.

Then add "piece of gold twisted edge" to make the colorful flowers more prominent; "Big white" makes the contrasting colors be unified and harmonized, so that the color matching of the whole pattern obtains a solemn and elegant, complex but not chaotic, bright and eye-catching, unified and harmonious beautiful effect.

There are two ways to use the color halo, the inner and outer light (such as the innermost halo is bright red, the middle halo is light red, and the outer halo is pink), which is called "positive halo"; The one that is deep on the outside and shallow on the inside is called "anti-halo" (artists also call it "anti-twisting").

The use of positive halo and reverse halo is decided according to the requirements of the pattern "makeup" and the needs of the overall color change. It is usually used, mainly positive halo. Sometimes the ground color of the fabric is light, and the appropriate use of some anti-halo can highlight the effect of makeup.

Sometimes in a large area of positive halo patterns, consciously interspersed with a little anti-halo small pattern, can play a "peaceful curiosity" change effect. Generally speaking, except for special circumstances and special needs, positive halo is mainly used, and reverse halo is only used as a foil and embellishment.

If the anti-halo is used inappropriately, the artist calls it "sea strangle". The meaning of sea twisting is the halo method of illegality, which plays a destructive role in the overall effect of color.

The color halo is also called "polishing" (simply called "polishing"), which is divided into two types: "two polishes" and "three polishes". Two blends (two runs): dark and light red; Kwai yellow, green; jade white, blue; bronze, purple; feather gray, blue; Three halos (three runs): water red, silver red with red; Kwai yellow, broad green with limestone; lotus lotus, green lotus with purple sauce; jade white, ancient moon with royal blue; autumn incense, bronze with snuff; silver gray, tile gray with pigeon gray; jujube paste, Portuguese ash with bronze; Dark and light bronze with Tibetan camels. Although this is an incomplete material, it is the law and experience tempered by the long-term practice of cloud brocade weaving color matching.

How many mantras for color halo are there, it has been a long time and cannot be checked. In the past, when the master passed on the apprentice, he always had to keep a hand in the housekeeping skills. It was passed down from generation to generation, each leaving one hand, and then there was not much left.

The colors used in Yunjin are very rich. For example, the color names used by the Jiangning government-run weaving bureau in the Ming and Qing dynasties are excavated from the relevant archival materials, and then combined with the physical materials handed down from generation to generation to compare and identify, and a cloud brocade color matching spectrum with extremely rich names and national traditional characteristics can be sorted out. After the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were about dozens of colors commonly used in the folk cloud brocade weaving industry.

Reddish-orange

Belonging to the red and orange systems are big red, positive red, vermilion, silver red, water red, pink, southern red, pink, persimmon red, concubine red, Indian red, honey red, bean ash, coral, red sauce, etc.

Yellow-green color

Belonging to the yellow and green system, there are positive yellow, bright yellow, acacia yellow, golden yellow, sunflower yellow, apricot yellow, goose yellow, agarwood, incense color, bronze, chestnut shell, snuff, Tibetan camel, broad green, oil green, bud green, pine green, fruit green, dark green, autumn incense, etc.

Cyan-purple color

Belonging to the cyan and purple systems are sea blue, royal blue, royal blue, emerald blue, peacock blue, navy blue, crab blue, stone blue, ancient moon, first month, bright moon, lake color, iron gray, tile gray, silver gray, pigeon gray, Portuguese gray, lotus lotus, green lotus, purple sauce, reed sauce, jujube sauce, Beijing sauce, ink sauce and so on.

The commonly used pattern formats of cloud brocade patterns are: "group flower", "scattered flower", "full flower", "entangled branches", "string branches", "broken branches", "brocade group".

"Tuanhua" is a circular tuanhua, and the terminology of the folk machine shop calls it "light".

For example, the group flower pattern of the four pattern units is called "four lights"; The two units are called "two lights". The flower pattern is generally used in the design of clothing.

The design of the group pattern on the satin and woven gold satin is based on the width of the fabric and the number of flowers. If the number is small, the mass pattern will be large; If there are more numbers, the smaller the group pattern will be. The number of flowers is as follows:

A cluster of flowers: 40-46.6 cm in diameter.

Two flowers: 22.6-24.6 cm in diameter. There are also those with a diameter of 16.65-18.3 cm, which are used as "hoods" and have long been no longer woven.

Three clusters: 13.3-15.3 cm in diameter.

Four clusters: 12.65-14 cm in diameter.

Five flowers: 10.65-10.8 cm in diameter.

Six flowers: 7.8-9.3 cm in diameter.

Eight flowers: centimeters in diameter.

There are two kinds of group patterns: bordered and unedged. The group flower with the edge requires a moderate spacing between the center pattern and the edge pattern, and there is a difference in thickness, so that the center of the main flower is prominent, and the effect of clear and dense guests and hosts is achieved.

The main combination methods of the group flower are: "car transfer method", "two legal", "four legal".

The "turning method", also known as the "pushing and grinding method", is to use two or more groups of patterns of the same shape and quantity, or two groups of patterns of the same shape, to turn in one direction when combined to form a complete group pattern. Because of its combination of patterns, like a wheel or a stone mill, it rotates in one direction, so the design term calls it the turning method, or the push grinding method.

"Two legal", also known as "pair legal", is a symmetrical uniform pattern, which is composed of the same shape and amount of patterns on the left and right sides.

The "Four Laws" are composed of four groups of patterns of the same shape and quantity, in a centripetal or radial form.

The above are several methods commonly used in the combination of patterns of group patterns. The composition of the group pattern is not limited to these methods in practical application. For example, the traditional pattern of "five blessings to hold longevity" group flower, is the use of five bats of the same shape, as a centripetal equal combination, the center is placed with a circular seal body "longevity" character, forming a complete group pattern.

"Eight Immortals Celebrate Longevity" group flower, is to use eight pieces of different shapes of treasures, in the circle to make a suitable combination of shapes, the center is composed of the word "longevity" in the seal body. "Everything goes well" group flowers, is made with a stalk of ruyi and two persimmons, in the round light to make a suitable arrangement of the shape.

In addition, there is also a branch of broken branch flowers, or a flower basket for a round suitable treatment, and add a circle of regular lace on the outside to form a complete group pattern. There are also eight groups of patterns of the same shape and quantity, as a centripetal or radial combination, can also form a complete group pattern.

There is no fixed limit on the composition of the group pattern, and it is roughly divided, one is a regular combination, such as the combination of the same amount of patterns; One is a round fit composition.

The layout of the flowers (the arrangement of the fabric on the fabric) adopts the "scatter method". In the form of arrangement, there are several layout methods such as "whole section light", "biting light", "uniform pendulum", "two or three leather balls" and so on.

The arrangement method of the Whole Section. Take the four cluster flowers as an example: the first row has four complete cluster flowers at equal distances; The four clusters of flowers in the second row must be staggered at equal distances from the four clusters of flowers in the first row, so only the middle three clusters of flowers are complete.

On the left and right sides near the edge of the satin, only half a flower can be arranged. Because of this staggered arrangement, when the pattern is circulated for the second time, there must be a cluster of flowers divided into two halves in order to achieve the uniform effect of staggered arrangement, so the design term in the machine workshop calls this layout method "whole section light".

The "biting light" method is mostly used for weaving gold satin and arranging two large clusters of flowers. When arranging, the upper and lower rows of flowers will be staggered in half. From the perspective of vertical relationship, the upper and lower rows of flowers have half of each flower biting, that is, the right half of the center line of each group flower in the first row and the left half of the center line of each group flower in the second row bite each other on a vertical line; The left half of the centerline of each cluster in the second row bites the right half of each cluster in the third row on the vertical line. In this repeated cycle, half of the upper and lower rows of flowers always bite each other, so it is called "biting light".

The arrangement method of "uniform pendulum" is the same as the arrangement of "cloud gongs" in ancient national musical instruments, so it is also called "cloud gong pendulum". Let's take the arrangement of the four clusters of flowers as an example: the four clusters of flowers in the first row are arranged at equal distances, slightly to the left of the satin; The four clusters in the second row are arranged at equal distances, slightly to the right of the satin; The following rows of flowers are also arranged in a cycle.

In this way, the upper and lower rows of cluster flowers are slightly staggered, but each maintains the integrity of the four cluster flowers; The flowers near the edge of the satin do not need to be split into two halves, which is the difference between "uniform pendulum" and "whole section".

"Loose flowers" are mainly used for satin designs. The arrangement methods of scattered flowers are: "T-shaped chain method", "push-grinding continuous method", "Mo two three continuous method", also known as "Mo two three leather ball", "two two continuous method", "three three continuous method" and so on.

There are also those that use a combination of "T-shaped arrangement" and "push and grind". There is no rigid formula for the above various layout methods, and the design can be flexibly changed and used according to actual needs.

"Full flower" is mostly used for the design of the library brocade with small patterns for the edge. There are two kinds of layout methods for full flower patterns: "scatter method" and "concatenation method". The arrangement of the scatter method is tighter than that of the "scattered flowers".

The full flower composed of the concatenation method is mostly used for the "two-color treasury brocade" and "colorful flower brocade", and the effect of "supporting the ground to show the flower" must be mastered when designing.

"Entwined branches" is a most widely used format in cloud brocade patterns. The pattern of tangled branches was very popular in the Tang Dynasty, and was mostly used on Buddhist curtains and robes and gold garments at the earliest. Later, it has been inherited and applied, and has become a commonly used form of expression in Chinese brocade patterns. The commonly used twig patterns in the cloud brocade pattern are: "twined branch peony" and "twined branch lotus".

The tactful and smooth entwined branches, coiled with thick and full theme flowers, the entwined branches are like a moon halo, and they are also like halos; Coupled with dexterous vines, leaf buds and delicate flower buds, it forms a rhythmic and rhythmic pattern effect. The whole fabric looks like the flowers are white and the brocade is even, with a strong decorative style.

"String branches" is a commonly used format in cloud brocade floral patterns. At first glance, the effect of the twig pattern does not seem to be much different from that of the twig pattern; But if you look closely, there are still differences between the two.

Entwined branches, its main branches must be wrapped around the flower head of the theme flower. String branches, it is to use the main branch stalk to connect the flower head of the theme flower, in the unit pattern, can not see this obvious effect, when the unit pattern cycle is continuous, the momentum of the branch stalk through the string is clearly displayed.

"Folded branches" is a pattern format with a more realistic pattern. "Broken branch", as the name suggests, is a broken branch of flower with a flower head, buds, and leaves. In the arrangement of the folded branch pattern, the layout is required to be symmetrical, interspersed freely, and the branches between the folded branch flowers and the folded branch flowers do not need to be connected (otherwise it will lose the characteristics of the "folded branches" format), and the intermittent and open space between each other should be maintained.

After the unit pattern is cycled continuously, it is rich in a sparse, dense, uniform and harmonious beauty. This composition method is mostly used for the design of the whole pattern or the makeup satin of two large pattern units (Yunjin artists call it "big folding branches"), and the weaving effect of the whole piece is very magnificent.