Anyone who knows me knows how bad I am with colour, especially on the computer. My sketchbooks generally like to stay monochromatic, but I’m really trying to use colour more, because I want to be able to paint in both Photoshop and on canvas in acrylics and watercolours.
I bought myself a little colour wheel from the art shop and I read last month’s Imagine FX tutorial on Colour and Lighting by Jeremy Vickery. Must have gone over it at least three times.
I feel like I’m digging in the dirt but I’m really trying. Here are some of the fascinating little websites/blogs that I’ve come across today with hints and tips on how to help me improve the way I think about colour:
Choosing Colour Combinations – Veerle Pieters
This is an interesting little blog I came across. Her easily-readable description on how the brain works with colour is very helpful, even if she does seem to be focused primarily on website design. She also provided this link to Colour in Motion, a cute and really well made animation which conveys how colour is perceived by the human eye and what it signals.
Colour Scheme Designer - Petr Stanicek
Next I discovered this online interactive colour wheel. This is absolutely brilliant and easy to use, even going so far as to tell you the exact code for the colour you create so that you can find it in Photoshop. I’m having a hard time believing it’s a free website. Just hope he makes enough from donations.
Colour Theory Simplified - Philip Straub
Finally, it’s back to Imagine FX for a PDF tutorial by Mr S, who gives us a handy recap on the basics of colour theory, in case I’ve missed anything.
Now for the scary part: actually trying to use all this advice to create something.
Next time: Line art.
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Well, this is the first time i've stumbled upon your blog and when it comes to this particular entry I think I can give you some tips on choosing colours in digital paintings.
ReplyDeleteWhen you imagine what the painting will look like in your mind's eye, take note of the mood more than anything. this will make choosing colours and even lighting the scene MUCH easier! you can make much more informed decisions if you know exactly what you're looking for stylistically.
at this stage I only have a palette of two or three colours in my mind, often using colour theory as a rough guide, not a rule :)
Don't be put off by making the wrong colour choices at first when blocking. just use a rough tonal equivalent, if you're painting a woodland background just block it using a rough colour. doesn't matter whether it looks right. just paint in lights and darks. at this stage tone is much more important than colour.
Keep your values separate too. you can check if the colours are working tonally by messing with your channels *turn off the colours, until the image is BxW* *it's usually open by default next to your layers pallet, but if it's not just select it from the (windows) tab in PS*
This relates to the last pointer, This next tip will only work well if your values are separate! Your highlights must be highlights your mids must be mids and your darks well... you get the drift! make good use of the colour balance tool in Photoshop. It's a godsend for those who have colour troubles! that's why I told you to block colours loosely making tones the most important issue, using the colour balance tool (image > adjustments> colour balance) you can change the colours afterwards to whatever you want, adding in bluer less saturated shadows and lighter more saturated highlight colours. This is what I do to help me decide on colour themes for my paintings and it has given them so much more depth of colour. you should give it a try sometime :)
If you need some more in depth discussions about light and colour you can always msg me on fb or we can hang out sometime for a hands on tutorial. would be cool to share some knowledge!
and PS Jeremy vickers is a legend! keep listening to his advice, he knows what he is doing.
x kaikai