Color theory and application

[Nadesican]

Hey all! Lately, I've been analyzing what if anything my artistic studies have been doing to benefit me. To that end, I was wondering: What makes for a successful (and ultimately educational) color study?

If it helps any, the things I'm most concerned with are:

Color Harmony (getting those darn colors to look good together!)
Light scattering on different surfaces
General application of color theory

Any constructive advice is welcomed. I've read most of those color theory online tutorials, but if there's something in particular I should pay attention to, I'm interested to hear about it!

[Arshes Nei]

Color Harmony is mostly done when you understand various color themes, Monochromatic Complimentary, Primary, Split Complimentary, Tetradic, Analogous... Tertiary. Invest in a color wheel. You can get those ones they sell for mixing Palettes or of course download one online.

The wheel is important because it helps you see and set up the themes a bit better.

What should you pay attention to? I want to say all of it, but each person varies. I know that some get very technical about light.

One good thing to learn is the actual or general names of paints in traditional painting. I found color theory is better and easier when I limit it to Paint names vs the millions of colors a Photoshop Color Picker or Painter Color wheel has to offer (though the latter I think is more useful in understanding color theory).

What is a "Cadmium Red" for Example vs Alizarin Crimson" because when people say "Red" they don't specify the property of that red. Is it "Blue Based" (Or closer to blue on the color wheel) or is it "Yellow Based". Which red is more suited for getting a richer violet? Which is better to get a more neutral color?

It's all relative of course. :P

[Dile_]

I agree with Arshes, get a color wheel and start paying attention to all aspects of color theory, the most important thing is that you don't just read and read.. but read a little and then apply a lot! That way you'll put it into your head and it will stay there, compared to if you read 3 chapters on colortheory covering 20 aspects of it , and then you try to apply what you've picked up all at once.. You're just gonna get a little part from what you can get if you go with that method. So start very little! same with learning light.. I got some really really simple but great advice from some really good artists about how light works from just posting and doing really simple studies here on ca.org. But again, start simple and apply a lot! read no further than what you can understand in your mind... when you think you understand it find a good way to apply it to your canvas, then you WILL understand it. And do it over again.. the most simple stuff will aid you.

/wiki/light and /wiki/color are some great resources , but they get pretty overwhelming if you don't understand the basics of it already..

and yeah, learning the names of colors and conciously thinking of what makes what if you would blend tradtionally really helps from eliminating some of the millions of colors you have in the computer.. Blending RGB isn't the same as blending in the traditional sense, so its good to know what happens before hand so you can figure out what you would need etc.. the later stuff is pretty hardcore and you can figure this out by digitally by just painting from life and taking mental notes etc.. but its still all great things to know.