Colour Anarchy? Not so much

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.