colour? and how to use it?

[stormrider85]

ok im trying to improve myself in all aspects of drawing and painting and im just crap with colour, it makes no sense to me and ive been trying to understand it for so long.

I checked out some colour wheel stuff and i understand how it gives you colours that can work together but how the hell do i use them? like which do i use as the highlight , or shadow, or mid tone, Wat if i need to use a specific colour with them how do i make it work? like red lips or a blue t shirt.

So then i tried this thing where a grab someone elses art, paste it in photoshop, then pixel ate it to give me a colour scheme? is this wrong?, like i dont know how the colours works together or why they work i just use what ever it has give me, but then i think ill only limit my colour choices by what i steal off other artists.

im really confused...and dont get me started on painting in b&w tones then adding a colour blend layer on top , it turns out bad all the time and it makes no sense to me as well.

[Cthogua]

ok im trying to improve myself in all aspects of drawing and painting and im just crap with colour, it makes no sense to me and ive been trying to understand it for so long.

I checked out some colour wheel stuff and i understand how it gives you colours that can work together but how the hell do i use them? like which do i use as the highlight , or shadow, or mid tone, Wat if i need to use a specific colour with them how do i make it work? like red lips or a blue t shirt.

So then i tried this thing where a grab someone elses art, paste it in photoshop, then pixel ate it to give me a colour scheme? is this wrong?, like i dont know how the colours works together or why they work i just use what ever it has give me, but then i think ill only limit my colour choices by what i steal off other artists.

im really confused...and dont get me started on painting in b&w tones then adding a colour blend layer on top , it turns out bad all the time and it makes no sense to me as well.

Sounds like you need to read more color theory, it's more than just the color wheel, although that is the basis for a lot of the relationships.

Check out James Gurney's Blog entry about Color schemes. (http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2008/02/shapes-of-color-schemes.html) But that's only part of it. I would recommend getting a book on color theory. The application of that theory can be understood by looking at the world around you, as well as the color choices of other artists.

Regarding your specific questions about highlights, midtones, and shadows...all that stuff depends on the scene you are depicting and the quality of the light in that scene. EVERYTHING you paint is ultimately a light effect, as light is the only thing that you actually see. Everything you can decode about a scene is because of the light, and how it reacts to the various surfaces. A possible exception is the information that can be gained from the shape of an object, like possible weight, however even that ultimately requires light for you to see it. Highlights are going to be a mixture of the color of the light and the local color of the object, depending on reflectivity, and the surface texture of said object. Mid tones are going to be the closest to the "actual" or local color of the object, and shadows are typically going to be a mixture of the local color and the ambient light of the scene. Often times, as an optical effect shadows will appear to be the complimentary color, and temperature of the light. This is EXTREMELY simplified, but basically answers the questions you posed. Color is difficult, there's so many attributes to keep up with, hue, saturation, value, temperature. At the same time it's all right in front of us, in the observable world, we just have to see clearly enough to catch it.

[kv_ak]

Cthogua gave some excellent advice. I can only add that practicing from life and Old Masters can help with getting a better grip on color theory, a lot of good ideas regarding color can be derived from old paintings. Take notes on what you think is good color, and try to figure reasons behind it.

Task can be simplified by using value studies that can be later colored, so you don't have to work with values, edges, hue and chroma at the same time.

Andrew Loomis "Creative Illustration" book also has some interesting thoughts about practical approach to color.

[WinterTime]

I'm in the same boat as you are in learning Colour. But on my side, Im finding much enjoyment and pleasure in taking on the great task of understanding how it all goes to work together-

Personally, I think you can read all day about color; but that you wont really learn anything unless you go out there and make it your own. In my sketchbook today, (which I have yet to update here and will do as soon as possible), I started going over and painting full pages in solid Hues. With this, Im starting to make my own definitions of how I See and just really becoming more aware of the everything around me.

Tomorrow, I hope that I can start messing around with broadening my palette by seeing what I can do with using only the Primaries, and also making fun of it by applying its many theories to Real life.

-

Right now, Im in this Book that I bought from Ebay for less than 5 bucks. Its called 'Creative Color', by Faber Birren(a great colorist). I take notes in it prolifically, and love dreaming of all the possible place I can go. Wouldn't mind sharing notes and practice exercises at all; just Let me know.

But if i could say only one thing, it would be just: "Paint, and have fun."

[Elwell]

Right now, Im in this book that I bought from Ebay for less than 5 bucks. Its call Creative Color, by Faber Birren."
That's a good book (and a very good price).

[arttorney]

I am presuming that you can actually see colors here. If not, then I can understand how baffling they must be.

Before getting seriously bogged down in a terror of the color wheel, or "what does alternate complement mean, and do I juggle hue, value, or chroma for that?" I can say that there is a big beautiful world out there that you can look straight at and answer some of your questions. Take some clothing of several various colors and throw it in a random heap on a table by a window getting light from the north. On the outside of the wrinkles will be areas of intense color while in the canyons will be the colors in shade. In that shade, are the colors darker (value)? A less obvious question: Are they more drab, or more intense, down there in the canyons (saturation)? Has the basic underlying hue remained the same? (Is blue still blue, but not it is just darker and more drab?) Even less obvious question: Are there just the two versions of a color or is there a range as it slides around the curve of the wrinkle? Where does the color seem most colorful?

If you are mainly just worried about color schemes, then from what I've seen the overwhelming majority of the works on this site are in analogous color schemes, possibly adapted with a little of the complementary color dabbed around the focal point. SGreens, sepia, sienna, and burnt umber ranges seem to be very popular for environments, robots and armor tend to get colored like V-four sport bikes, and characters will be in blues or khaki/beige. Are you trying to fit into the crowd or do you really want to try something different?

[gogidolim]

Color theory is one thing. Applying it to actual painting is a very different matter.

I came to realize that it's 10% theory and 90% mileage. Do a lot of master copies...with gouache. Yeah, it's expensive but those French ones are much cheaper, and work well with Bristol Boards.

[stormrider85]

Thanks guys for all the great comments, i actually have a direction to move in now!
I still have to pick up a colour theory book but does anyone actually have any problems deciphering some of those books, some of them can be very confusing. I know alot of the sites ive read definitely were, to me anyway.

Im checking out that blog too its going a little bit over my head but im still going to go through it.
im pretty much only understand the meanings of hue value, saturation etc but i dont know how to use them.

Just relizing now how important painting from life and photos are to understanding how colour works, so im going to start that now.

oh and yes id rather be doing something different with the way i choose colours rather then imitate everyone else on this site, im just amazed by what people do here because their all so much better then the colour choices i can make, so i wanted to figure out what their doing. but yeh id rather be more unique then a mediocre imitation.

again thanks for all the comments , very helpful.