Blog: Choosing Colors (Patreon)

Colors are a HUGE topic when dipping your toes into painting and they can be really intimidating for new artists. I want to break down some basic color theory/psychology and explain my general approach to laying down the color foundation for a good design.

I want to preface this real quick and say that all color, at the end of the day, is best when it's experimental. Don't feel like you have to abide by some weird old "rules" or follow a formula that you don't like. Mess around, try new things. Lay down weird colors and then tinker with HSV sliders until it *feels* good. Find what works for you! Now moving on...

First of all, different colors communicate different moods and tones. There is a TON of reading out there if you're interested in learning more about color psychology since it is used so heavily in fields like graphic design, advertisement, and interior design. Here is a basic list you can use to pick colors, keep in mind that this is mostly based on western cultural associations but they can vary throughout the world:

• Red: related to passion, warmth, desire, courage, strength. Also war, aggression, fire, hot energy, power, danger.
• Orange: meets in the middle of the hot energy of red and the cheerfulness of yellow. Also frustration or immaturity.
• Yellow: joy, optimism, friendliness, creativity. Also fear, fragility, sickliness, and anxiety when desaturated.
• Green: associated with balance, harmony, growth, nature, peace, and equilibrium. Restful.
• Blue: intelligence, trust, serenity, logic, coolness. Also coldness, lack of emotion.
• Purple: spirituality, magic, truth, luxury, confidence, quality, ambition, mystery.
• White: clarity, purity, simplicity, light, faith. Also elitism and sterility.
• Black: elegance, mystery, formality, death, sophistication. Also grief and menace.

Again- these can vary a LOT by culture. I recommend doing some reading and research on color psychology in general, it's really fascinating. 

Now let's talk color palettes. 

This is a basic 12-spoke color wheel, which includes tints (pure hue + white) in each hue. I'm going to go through some of the different common color palettes very quickly to explain/demonstrate how each would be used. Hang in here, we're going to put this all together into a formula at the end.

Color Theory Terms

• Color: the overarching term, made up of hue, value, and saturation
• Hue: whether the color is yellow, blue, purple, etc. The pure pigment. Often incorrectly used interchangeably with "color"
• Shade: hue + black
• Tint: hue + white
• Primary colors: red, blue, yellow
• Secondary colors: green, orange, purple
• Tertiary colors: made by mixing primary and secondary colors, such as yellow-green

Common Color Schemes

Monochromatic: a single hue mixed with white and/or black. Harmonious by default, but potentially boring. Common to see in branding because it's hard to make it jarring or ugly. Use a wide range of value to make your focal point pop.

Analogous: hues that are next to each other on the color wheel. Similar to monochromatic, they're naturally harmonious, but it's hard to give them a pop of interest without using the full value range.

Complementary: using opposite hues on the color wheel. Limited to only using two hues, but again- add variety, a focal point, or depth by varying saturation and value! Much easier to get a "pop" with this color scheme.

Triadic: using hues that are equidistant from each other on the color wheel. This can get very chaotic, so avoid using too much saturation if your image is getting noisy. When done well, it can have a very clear focal point and a lot of action. Consider having one or two of the hues be very desaturated and/or neutral, then using the third to pop forward.

Split: choose one hue, then pick 2 colors that are across from it. I didn't realize it until very recently, but this is the scheme I use the most because it has two hues that can be neutrals and one hue that gets a LOT of visual attention. It's really obvious in my Ebony design, as well as the aqua draggo. I think that split colors are SUPER strong and easy to use because it combines having harmonious colors with a high-contrast hue, and that gives you a LOT of control over where the eye goes.

This is pretty similar to the triadic color scheme, but two colors are just a little closer in hue to each other.

WHEW. That was a lot of info...now how do I use it?

When you're struggling to put something together, take a step back and think of colors as a formula based on the info above.

At this point, the hardest part is storytelling. Make sure that your design is clearly communicating what it is. Simple, strong execution is better than chaotic, confusing context. Colors will help prop up your concept, but the idea has to be clear first.

Idea to Image

Say our prompt is an "expansive war-torn battlefield after the fight." After doing some thumbnails, I decide I want the sky to take up a lot of the image so the field feels really big. Maybe your first thought is that the sky is blue... but according to the color descriptions above, blue is associated with serenity. Red is moreso associated with aggression and rage, so maybe the sky would really push the mood if it was red instead of blue.

Now... is this image of after the battle, when all is still? Then maybe the painting should be monochomatic or analogous. Or maybe the image focused on the last standing warrior, mourning in the middle of the field- then let's use the split color theme so the tired fighter really stands out from the background.

I used this approach with my design for Ebony- I picked one color that I knew would be important (in their case, purple, because they are a trickster cleric and I wanted their outfit to feel a little mysterious) and then built the other colors around that. I picked a neutral brown that was harmonious with the purple that I liked, then used the bright blue eye to provide a focal point:

The bright yellow coin actually distracts from the focal point that is the light blue eye (which debatably is a poor design choice) but Ebony's magical coin is an important part of their backstory so I made the decision to keep it.

I hope that this provides a method for you to intentionally pick more harmonious colors in the future. Let me know your thoughts or if you have any questions in the comments below. :) Thanks everyone!