How to Pick and Use Colour in Your Art
rainbow
We all know the feeling of dread that kicks in when you finish your line art. You’ve spent hours meticulously sketching your art out, then cleaning the sketch up and getting it perfect, only to hit a blank when you have to add colour. There are hundreds of colours to choose from, each of them with varying saturations and intensities that could totally change the mood of your art. You add the wrong shade of red to your art and it totally changes the feel of the piece and you have to start over. Colours are difficult to pick, and difficult to make look good. I personally struggle with colour palettes, but I’ve found a few tricks that make it a lot easier. Those tips are what I’d like to share with you today in this blog, so keep reading to check them out!
Take from nature
Nature has some beautiful colours, so why not use them? Take some pictures of the fall trees, the flower fields, the setting sun, whatever looks nice! Make sure to be careful though, as sometimes even natural colour palettes can look cluttered. Avoid using things like rainbows as colour palettes, and try not to use pictures off the internet, as the colours might be altered and it might not look as good. Once you have your picture, take the colour that shows up most and make that your main colour. Then find commonly reoccurring colours and use those as your secondary and tertiary colours. Then, BOOM! You have a colour palette!
Lower the Saturation
Having bright and vibrant colour palettes can be great and super fun, but you can’t make them too bright. Make sure you don’t over-saturate your colours, or you’ll end up hurting your eyes. You can desaturate your colours by adding a little black or white to them. This will make the colour less intense, and spare your eyes from agony. If you want a vibrant colour palette, don’t use super bright colours. Use complementary colours like pink and light green. Put them near each other, and they’ll pop out and look more vibrant. If you’re confused, there’s more about colour theory in the next section.
Colour theory
Having good colours is important, but knowing how and where to use those colours is just as crucial. That’s where colour theory comes in. Remember back in fourth grade art class when the teachers would talk about warm and cool colours and complementary colours? Yeah, that’s colour theory. Well, kind of. To sum it up, warm colours are red yellow and orange, and cool colours are blue green and purple. Greys can be cool or warm too. If a grey has a red undertone it's a warm grey, and the opposite for blue. Warm colours are better if you want to have a warm environment, like a fireplace or a summer’s day. Cool colours are good for cold environments like snowy tundra. If you want to show a warm place near a cold spot, like a log cabin in winter, you can use warm colours for the inside of the cabin and cool colours for the outside. This will make the inside feel warm, and the outside feel cold and treacherous. The contrast between the two colours will further emphasise this, and make it feel more alive and interesting.
Colour wheel
In colour theory, there are also contrasting and complimentary colours. Take a look at a colour wheel. Draw a straight line from one colour to another. Those colours are complementary. For instance, blue and orange are complementary. Complimentary colours next to each other look very vibrant, and will pop out. If you use them too much though, it will hurt your eyes. Make sure to use them sparingly or turn down the saturation if you use them unless you want to hurt your eyes. You can use complimentary colours to bring focus to something. For instance, if you want the focus to be on a character’s eyes, you can use purple as a base colour and add yellow highlights to make it stand out. This will bring the focus to the eyes of the character.
This video does a really good job at explaining colour theory!
Just ditch the colour entirely!
If you’re having a lot of trouble with colour, and it's getting to the point where it isn’t fun anymore, just go monotone! Monotone colour palettes take a lot more skill to convey emotion, but they can be very pleasing to look at. The key is adding just the right amount of grey scale. Don’t totally go black and white, use some greys and browns too. Warm browns can add just the right amount of colour to your piece. You can also add some warmth to your blacks and whites by using a very dark, or almost black, red or an off white. This will save you the trouble of a colour palette without causing hindrance to your piece. In fact, it could make your piece feel old or graceful, like an ink written letter from the 1800’s! If colour isn’t your strong suit, then improvise and find something that works better and is easier for you! Here’s a monotone colour palette that looks really nice!
Colour is really fun, and can add a lot to an artwork, but it can be really tough to find a good palette. Hopefully my tips have helped out, even a little bit. If they haven’t, please tell me what you struggle with in the comments, I’d love to help! If I did help at all, please feel free to leave a like or tell me what you liked about my tips. I’d love to hear how it helped!