Kachayet
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Post by Kachayet on Nov 15, 2024 3:18:46 GMT -5
I like to think I understand general color theory to a certain extent, but I have been having a lot of problems with good color combinations. I feel like this is specially true in my recent unrendered sketches, can anyone else see the problem or know how to get better at color picking?
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wowozella
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Post by wowozella on Nov 15, 2024 4:30:52 GMT -5
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Kit Collie
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Post by Kit Collie on Nov 15, 2024 5:23:28 GMT -5
Great value advice from wowozellaOnly thing I'd add as general advice is, this video from Jeremy Vickery taught me so much about colour harmony: www.youtube.com/watch?v=21mPduQsm1gI'd highly recommend giving it a watch & practicing the techniques!
To provide some specific feedback on the webfishing art: I think you've picked great colours for the character in the foreground! One thing I'd suggest is playing around with less saturated colours & weaker values in the background, to provide better background/foreground contrast, and harmony on each layer. If you convert your picture to grayscale you should see that the maroon in the background is the second strongest value, and so it draws attention away from the character. I had a quick play with tweaking the maroon, and #563127 (html notation) is a very similar value to the other background colours, which means it should appear to fit much more naturally wit them. Might be worth giving it a quick test and seeing how it feels to you! |
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gabu!!
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Post by gabu!! on Nov 15, 2024 5:54:52 GMT -5
another fun challenge is to go on lospec and pick a color palette and try to draw art with just those colors! its meant for pixel art but should work fine for regular art too. |
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fox
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Post by fox on Nov 15, 2024 15:24:17 GMT -5
another fun challenge is to go on lospec and pick a color palette and try to draw art with just those colors! its meant for pixel art but should work fine for regular art too. oooooh i didnt know about this site thank you  im always looking for cool color palettes |
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fedthecat
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Post by fedthecat on Nov 15, 2024 15:32:28 GMT -5
I'm not the best at it but also make sure that if you are using color blending in software rather than colorpicking, you are aware it does not work the same way as it does in real life.
So make sure you watch tutorials with a digital focus.
For example if you mix yellow and blue paint in photoshop, you do not get green. You get like a grayish gradient.
Very few programs have perceptual color mixing.
CSP has it hidden in some settings.
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Kachayet
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Post by Kachayet on Nov 15, 2024 15:39:30 GMT -5
Wait I didn't expect to wake up with so many tips i would SEVERELY recommend making a little space full of art that uses colors you like, and then trying to emulate color schemes that are similar to that when making characters. maybe even try making a bunch of little practice characters until you find stuff you like! all of this is just fucking around until it feels right for me anyway A lot of what you said makes sense!! I've been meaning to do similar mood board thingies but I always get so overwhelmed  I really do need to enter the " just fucking around until it feels right" mindset when it comes to art more tho!!
Btw thank you for replying with your insight because I did do this thread right after I looked at your art and got amazed by your colors, they look so yummy (pos)  OHHHHHHH I get it now. I knew there was something about color relativity and greys but this video + what wowozella said made it finally click, I'll try practicing it later thank you so so much though!! Also I see what you mean (I just took like 10 minutes to find how to grayscale on CSP) and it's definitely better, though how often do you generally switch to grayscale? Because I do have some good habits that turn bad because of how constantly I do them (always flipping and being zoomed in, etc) another fun challenge is to go on lospec and pick a color palette and try to draw art with just those colors! its meant for pixel art but should work fine for regular art too. Thinking about it, Pixel Art really does need good colors to work so I might look into that site further!! |
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Kit Collie
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Post by Kit Collie on Nov 15, 2024 17:10:14 GMT -5
how often do you generally switch to grayscale? Because I do have some good habits that turn bad because of how constantly I do them (always flipping and being zoomed in, etc) My advice there would be, make sure there's a reason that triggers your action:
- Flip the canvas when you want to check your proportions (for instance, when you place the eyes or draw in the contour of a muzzle)
- Switch to grayscale after laying in your flat colours, and when you want to check the balance of shadows/highlights
- If you zoom in to work on details, periodically zoom back out so you can see your changes in context. It'll slow you down, but will show you early on in the process if something's gone out of balance
Most of my work these days is traditional (watercolour & gouache) so I can't flip back and forth, but when I'm planning out a full piece I do thumbnails and value studies. Both of those have helped me start building an intuitive sense of which values to pick & when things are out of balance. It all comes from doing enough practice & making enough mistakes to build that intuition for what works and what doesn't! I'll focus on one particular technique and work at it for a while. Do that enough, and it starts to become so ingrained that you don't need to consciously think about it ^_^ |
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poodlewool
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Post by poodlewool on Nov 17, 2024 23:46:05 GMT -5
I feel like picking good colors is like, one of the hardest things to articulate, but I absolutely second some of the above posters on curating a space that has palettes you like... coolors.co/ is another great palette resource. Smash that spacebar until you get a cool combo. The more you work, the more your taste will develop. I really do like the colors in your examples though! I find color theory is ultimately more useful in creating compositions that work than actually picking palettes. Like, "I want an orange element that stands out"? Blue background. But deciding which orange you like is all on you. |
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LOVE YOUR ART BTW!! pool lifeguard pooltoy... hell yeah...
im always looking for cool color palettes
I really do need to enter the "just fucking around until it feels right" mindset when it comes to art more tho!! 
