Improving my use of colour

[Mohojoe]

Hey all,

 

Looking to improve my painting and one of my main issues is that I don't have a great grasp on putting colours together. Can anyone recommend a way to improve this or is it something you just build up over time?

So for instance figuring out colours that work well together in case the previous statement was too vague. 

Also any tips in general for designing painting schemes for armies and so on?

[yaanthebarb]

A great first step would be to get yourself a colour wheel, it makes finding complimentary colours much easier. Most art stores should do them, or you can google colour wheel and download one


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[fartsocks]

Second the colour wheel suggestion. As a general rule, colours opposite each other on the wheel look good together ,so if you have one colour in mind, pick the opposite one to complement it with.

[Mohojoe]

Cheers guys, 

Got myself a colour wheel and will be bearing it in mind for my next project. 

[Orange]

Another thing you can do is look at corporate logos. People are paid a lot of money to make them eye-catching, so the colour combinations in them can be good inspiration.

Sports team strips are another one, but sometimes for the opposite reason--a lot of the older clubs in the world didn't have people paid money to develop their playing strip, and sometimes it really shows with colour combinations that don't really work.

And sometimes clubs make obnoxiously coloured strips to stand out--check out Japanese soccer and 70s NFL shirts to understand the definition of clashing colours!

[Mossback]

There is an app for Android devices called PaintRack. It may be available for iPhone and tablets too, but I don't know. It is a great way to keep track of all your paints and includes most hobby brands. It even includes a color tool for finding complimentary colors, similar, etc. It will even tell you what color from other brands are the best match to what you own if you are trying to replicate a painting process. PaintRack has a free and paid version. I bought it as I think it quite useful. By the way, this is not a paid endorsement and I am not affiliated with that company in any way. Just a useful tool to have.

[Saproling]

I'd also recommend a colour wheel but also to experiment with your paints to make greys and blacks to use in place of 'pure black' - it helps make shadows/shading colours for minis and is pretty good as helping figure out what colours to mix. Going back to a colour wheel, if you want to highlight something/brighten it, use the colour above it in the wheel (ie use yellow to highlight/brighten a green as opposed to white) as it prevents from making the colour chalky or pastel. Same goes for darkening- blue for greens as adding black makes it more of a murky olive.

The shadows on this model (a practice mini of mine) are done with a blue-green wash, and highlights have gone up through green-yellows, to yellow then through to white, with a green glaze to bring everything back into the green end of the spectrum.  (couldn't paint green at all, so I seem to be using it heaps these days).

Hope this helps!

[HeadHunter]

Just about everyone is going to recommend a color wheel, but it's as important to know how to use it. I'd recommend Googling "color theory" to get a better understanding of what complementary colors mean, triads and analogous colors.  Catching the eye and contrast is important, but harmony is also important.

This is why the Joker stands out, but also looks garish.  Sometimes you want to use the complementary color as a "spot color" for some small details rather than large portions of the model.

[PC Veteran]

This link might help you.

http://theback40k.blogspot.com/p/color-theory-archive.html

[Orange]

33 minutes ago, HeadHunter said:

This is why the Joker stands out, but also looks garish.  Sometimes you want to use the complementary color as a "spot color" for some small details rather than large portions of the model.

This is a really good point too--superheroes and cartoon characters are a good reference, as their colours are very heavily coded into their personality and work with similarly themed models.

I used Skeletor's colour scheme for my Warmachine Cryx, for instance. 

[Saproling]

1 hour ago, PC Veteran said:

This link might help you.

http://theback40k.blogspot.com/p/color-theory-archive.html

Also handy is picking up an art book on basic colour too- it's handy to have on hand and is filled with cool information as well as tips on mixing, hue/saturation/value, choosing colours and lighting. There's one Meg Maples recommends, by the guy who did Dinotopia though anything from an art store should suffice

[Mohojoe]

Thank you to everyone who replied here. I have woken up to a huge wealth of knowledge!


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[Kramer]

5 hours ago, Orange said:

Another thing you can do is look at corporate logos. People are paid a lot of money to make them eye-catching, so the colour combinations in them can be good inspiration.

As someone who occasionally gets paid to do this... colors in logo's and corporate style* are based on core values. So a bank will most likely contain blue as this is associated with reliability and rarely orange (risk and aggression). An exception would be in the Netherlands where it is the national color. 

So that's how companies choose their base color(s)  The other colors are there to make the first shine, or convey another value. A good easy tip is to google conplementary color sites. There are several around where designers submit their color combinations. The great thing about it is you search for your base color and you get hundreds of color combinations with your core color in it. And the combinations get feedback by the other professionals on the sites.

 

* I don't think this translates well. It's usually a document which contains all style choices: colors, fonts, logo uses, adaptions of elements, visual style. Etc. 

[Mohojoe]

44 minutes ago, Kramer said:

As someone who occasionally gets paid to do this... colors in logo's and corporate style* are based on core values. So a bank will most likely contain blue as this is associated with reliability and rarely orange (risk and aggression). An exception would be in the Netherlands where it is the national color. 

So that's how companies choose their base color(s)  The other colors are there to make the first shine, or convey another value. A good easy tip is to google conplementary color sites. There are several around where designers submit their color combinations. The great thing about it is you search for your base color and you get hundreds of color combinations with your core color in it. And the combinations get feedback by the other professionals on the sites.

 

* I don't think this translates well. It's usually a document which contains all style choices: colors, fonts, logo uses, adaptions of elements, visual style. Etc. 

That makes a tonne of sense. I work in ecology so a lot of my time is spent looking at animals and invertebrates who use colours to ward off predators and so on. 

Will check out those websites and see what I can find.

Really overwhelmed by the knowledge in this thread, I didnt expect everyone to go into such detail! Will be adding this info to the newbie primer when I get a chance.

[Kramer]

You could almost call it a 'grand alliance' ba dum tsss 

No worries, and just some website suggestions (but by no means necessarily the best):

http://www.colorcombos.com/popular-color-combinations
https://coolors.co/browser/latest/1
https://color.adobe.com/explore/newest/
http://www.colourlovers.com/community

I would keep googling until you find a site you like because there are so many that you kind of see that a lot of sites develop their own style.  (first one for example has very bright suggestions in the popular section while other are more 'pastelly')

[Lysandestolpe]

Color on crack: Josef Ablers - Interaction of Color. Get the app for your Ipad and start reading and practicing. Know that he is German and be patience. But all his exercises are fantastic.

A very fundamental concept to color is: A Mephiston red is not one single type of red, but has many faces depending on what their surrounding environment looks like. Next to a blue it looks one way, next to a green it looks another. Next to black it looks brighter, next to a white it looks darker. Color is extremely subjective and only you can know your own perception of it.

Any color's relationship is highly influential, to say it differently. Sometimes you can plan and plan and have a great idea of what you want, but as soon as you put paint on the miniature, you hate it. Paint thinly and be prepared to change things.

I changed the armor on my Megaboss on Maw Crusha after finishing the yellow and purple behemoth. I am still changing things on him for that reason. I also changed the skin on half of my Brutes because it clashed to much with the type of yellow I used.

Shortlist of points to keep in mind (exceptions apply):

- A good balance of warm and cool colors have a tendency of increasing the aesthetics of the model.
- A good balance of bright and dark values (contrast) increases the three dimentional illusion of the model (contrast can also be achieved through color, not only value).
- Think about the conceptual aspect of the colors. For example: nurgle is gross green, because they are gross. Speed Freeks armor are red, because it is a color that insinuate heat, coming from heat of fast moving metal, (etc).

 

Good luck!

[HeadHunter]

8 hours ago, Saproling said:

There's one Meg Maples recommends

The name sounds familiar... she's like the Duncan Rhodes of Privateer Press if I recall?

7 hours ago, Kramer said:

So a bank will most likely contain blue as this is associated with reliability and rarely orange (risk and aggression). An exception would be in the Netherlands where it is the national color. 

The bank I work for in the USA has orange as its primary logo color and blue for the name. Interesting.

[Kramer]

6 hours ago, HeadHunter said:

The name sounds familiar... she's like the Duncan Rhodes of Privateer Press if I recall?

The bank I work for in the USA has orange as its primary logo color and blue for the name. Interesting.

Haha really? That's very interesting. Of course the associations we have with colors are very much predicated on the culture you grew up in. But still. Are you in a position to look at a style document  they usually contain some key words that show the reason? 

But blue is one of those base colors which i would assume has the same association at least in western culture. But cool to hear?

But there are other examples. In some Asian cultures white is the color of death where in most western cultures it's black. 

Yellow is associated with jealousy in western cultures (France and Germany spring to mind, but isn't there also an American saying linking yellow to jealousy?). And I think it was Thailand where it's a lucky color. But don't pin me down on the last  one. 

But a lot of this is also in language: white flag, black sheep, rolling out the red carpet, turning green, etc

[Turragor]

Figopedia is a good book.

It's the basics, light and colour, which are both all you really need to know to make great looking tabletop minis.

Which is just as well because if you aren't art minded however you go about learning this is going to be tough!

It's figure specific and quite theory filled (and french) in its delivery. So whilst its basic as in its the foundation of art, it may not be beginner friendly. I can't honestly judge that.

[roberto]

2 hours ago, Kramer said:

Haha really? That's very interesting. Of course the associations we have with colors are very much predicated on the culture you grew up in. But still. Are you in a position to look at a style document  they usually contain some key words that show the reason? 

But blue is one of those base colors which i would assume has the same association at least in western culture. But cool to hear?

But there are other examples. In some Asian cultures white is the color of death where in most western cultures it's black. 

Yellow is associated with jealousy in western cultures (France and Germany spring to mind, but isn't there also an American saying linking yellow to jealousy?). And I think it was Thailand where it's a lucky color. But don't pin me down on the last  one. 

But a lot of this is also in language: white flag, black sheep, rolling out the red carpet, turning green, etc

Some of the color associations are figurative, not visual.

In America, green is associated with envy, not yellow.  Jealousy has been described as the "green-eyed monster".  Yellow is cowardice,  pink; effeminate.

IMO, color choice and painting style should be in some ways associated with the army that is being painted.  IOW, I wouldn't expect an orc to patronize a manicurist or dry cleaner.

[Davariel]

As a supplement to all the great advice so far, it can also be helpful to browse some of the top rated models on CoolMiniorNot or other sites. The kind of artists who make you want to throw away your brushes generally have a very good handle on colour balance too, and it can often be worth spending a bit of time looking for an amazing colour scheme to shamelessly steal  take inspiration from. 

[Kramer]

6 hours ago, roberto said:

Some of the color associations are figurative, not visual.

In America, green is associated with envy, not yellow.  Jealousy has been described as the "green-eyed monster".  Yellow is cowardice,  pink; effeminate.

IMO, color choice and painting style should be in some ways associated with the army that is being painted.  IOW, I wouldn't expect an orc to patronize a manicurist or dry cleaner.

That's what I meant when I said it's also in language ?. Is there a difference between envy and jealousy? Or are they interchangeable? 

And then I'll stop because this conversation is kinda hijacking the thread.  

[Mohojoe]

On 23/02/2017 at 3:53 AM, Saproling said:

I'd also recommend a colour wheel but also to experiment with your paints to make greys and blacks to use in place of 'pure black' - it helps make shadows/shading colours for minis and is pretty good as helping figure out what colours to mix. Going back to a colour wheel, if you want to highlight something/brighten it, use the colour above it in the wheel (ie use yellow to highlight/brighten a green as opposed to white) as it prevents from making the colour chalky or pastel. Same goes for darkening- blue for greens as adding black makes it more of a murky olive.

The shadows on this model (a practice mini of mine) are done with a blue-green wash, and highlights have gone up through green-yellows, to yellow then through to white, with a green glaze to bring everything back into the green end of the spectrum.  (couldn't paint green at all, so I seem to be using it heaps these days).

Hope this helps!

My girlfriend just saw this, thought it was real and now wants it haha

[roberto]

5 hours ago, Kramer said:

That's what I meant when I said it's also in language ?. Is there a difference between envy and jealousy? Or are they interchangeable? 

And then I'll stop because this conversation is kinda hijacking the thread.  

 

Envy is wanting what someone else has.  Jealousy is insecurity about losing what you have (usually in regards relationships).

Like most people here, I spend a lot of time looking at others' miniatures.  To add to what I wrote earlier, painting an army is different than painting a miniature.  In the example below (not my work), the individual models are not remarkable, but as a cohesive whole the effect is beautiful.

 

 

[Soulsmith]

That blood bowl team is also a good example of a general aesthetic. The fact that it doesn't have bright colours isn't an issue, as it has a drab scheme but punctuated with different colours, the reds and the darker, bluer black orcs.

Great thread though guys, giving me lot's to think about for my upcoming DoT project.