new and need help

[defcon79]

i hope this makes sense
hey im new to this site and i have a few questions i was hoping some one could answer . its a 2 part question so please bare with me.

from what i understand when dealing in blk/wht drawings darker tones have a tendency to advance and liter ones tend to recede, kinda like line weight to show depth, the problem im having is that when i do a drawing the shadowed areas seem to become the focale point-i hope this makes i little more sense -how does the value of a color differ from the croma of a color?


please help me im pulling my hair out!
just a little background ive been drawing for awhile but only the last 3 years have been serious , also i primarily use watercolors.
maybe im looking at art to analytically , i used to just draw and paint and not think to much about it but over the years i become more interested in technique and HOW people get the effects they get i think i should draw more and read less?!
thanks for your time
lee :yayca:

[Mirana]

- I don't understand your confusion with these theories. Maybe you can explain where you find them contradicting or limiting? In the meantime, you can check out ANJ's tutorial (http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=37474) on color and rendering.

- I believe the most used method is to create a layer above the b/w one, and set it to "Color" (using the drop-down box that is usually set to "normal"). You will have to go in and paint above it though, as the colors are going to be desaturated.

[defcon79]

mirana
thanks for trying to help. i guess i need clairify what i need help with.first i dont do any work on the computer i do all tradianal media ( maybe im on the wrong site) mostly watercolor work.

well ill scrach the 1st question and i guess the only one i have then is how to convert the grey scale to have the same effect with color

[Ilaekae]

Hang in there. We have some people here who are heavy into watercolor and wash type material. They should be able to help a good bit.

"-if darker values advance and lighter values recede how then do you render a blk/wht picture? shadows are darker than highlites...this theory makes no sense to me. maybe i misunderstood what i read."

I'm with you here on the confusion... Are you sure you read whatever you read right? Lights generally advance and darks recede in color or black and white. Intense colors (like orange) advance more than more muted colors (like violet blue), which is exactly opposite what you state above.

The advance/recede effect is based on contrast and values. Lighter/brighter/stronger/more pure colors advance, darker/duller/weaker/muddier colors recede. If you squint at a piece of art, you force yourself to see more value change than actual color, because the colors tend to get subdued. If you had a photo in color of something and made an accurate copy of it on a good-quality B&W copier, or if you had identical B&W and color shots of the same subject (say in different art books), you can see the way the values work a bit better, even though they started as a shade of color.

[defcon79]

Ilaekae
i Deffinately misunderstood what i read because what you said makes sense. also i think wht this comes comes down to is i have to practice this alot more and get over this stupid fear that im not doing my paintings and drawing the right way . again thankyou for your time.

[Pawkfox]

None of what you guys say makes any sense.
But I never was much for the smart stuff of art :|

I don't want to take the fun away from painting by making it into a science.
Tried, got a headache, felt like studying physics.
Just look at real life, take mental notes on how things work and react and stay away from difficult terms :(

As for coloring black and white images. Idiotapathy has a "tutorial" kind of thing. Lemme fetch it for ya..

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1671044&postcount=139
Here we go. You can download his PSD for more steps and what not.

[defcon79]

pawkfox
thanks for your input and i will check out this site;)

[LifeWontWait]

Lights generally advance and darks recede in color or black and white.

I think maybe what he read is talking about line art possibly? I mean, when you are drawing just using line you make the lines that are up front darker than the lines that are in the background.

I dunno if this is the case or not... just thought I would throw it out there.