Do you do color studies before painting?

[Galante]

So, I was just wondering.
One of the things that I enjoy almost as much as painting is to decide what colors I\'m going to use in my next mini.
I go to the trouble of doing a pencil sketch of it, load it to photoshop and then try a number of colors until I\'m happy with it.
Finally, I print it and use it as a reference as I paint.

What about you? Too much trouble? Or do you enjoy using Google to search for images of fur, tattoos, hair, skin, etc?

State your reasons!

 

[frenchkid]

Well I usually know how I\'m going to paint befor I start on the mini, and I try to keep the basic rules in mind (complementary colors and such) but otherwise I never really go to great extend to find somthing really original, I just paint it the way I feel it should be and a way I will like (well considering the colors anyway, the actual paintjob is another thing, never turns ou the way I planned )

 

[Ritual]

I picked the \"I have usually some ideas...\". That doesn\'t mean I have tried out colours before I start, just that I have one or a few colours in mind and then when I start painting I fill out the blanks as I go along. I have a quite good sense of colour theory so I never miss the target completely. If something looks a little off when I look at the result I can \"tweak\" the result to my liking with some coloured washes to pull the colour in the right direction.

Note the spelling of \'colour\'! lol

 

[tidoco2222]

Quite simply no I do not.

 

[EricJ]

I typically start with a good idea in my head also, and let it evolve as I go and see it becoming more a reality. Sometimes, although rarely, I will get a mini and basically speed paint it in 30 minutes or so, just to get an idea about how those colors will look, then strip it and do the real paint job. But that is rare.

Of course 9/10ths of everything I seem to paint anymore is sisters of battle, and I have my scheme worked out for them, so it\'s not an issue!

-Eric

 

[Medved]

i must admit that i have a ready made palette in my head. its more of a case of should i go for a red or a blue or whatever as the dominant colour. matching other colours is not too hard and i have my ingredients for each thing i want to paint. with me its the washes and glazes that are the time that i really get stuck and start to play around.
its always nice to have a set thing to paint to, but a pain when you get bored with it. the big problem i have is when allmost all the colours are on and i go add something that messes the whole balance u!

 

[Astonia]

I think id depends on why I paint the mini. If it\'s for commission, the customer usually has some requests regarding the colour scheme, and then I go by that as a guideline. Other times I paint for competitions, and then it can be important to come up with an original colour scheme beforehand, and then follow that. Other times, I just happen to lay eyes on some unused paint pot in my collection and decide to try it out.

In all of the above cases I try to stick to two or max three main colours.

 

[Margo]

Not only that, I also waste a lot of paint while mixing and trying to find this or that particular colour

 

[Medved]

i must admit that i have a ready made palette in my head. its more of a case of should i go for a red or a blue or whatever as the dominant colour. matching other colours is not too hard and i have my ingredients for each thing i want to paint. with me its the washes and glazes that are the time that i really get stuck and start to play around.
its always nice to have a set thing to paint to, but a pain when you get bored with it. the big problem i have is when allmost all the colours are on and i go add something that messes the whole balance u!

 

[Brother Tom]

I try to get a rough idea in my head but that sometimes changes when I get round to the painting. I sometimes mix some paint before hand if I want something a bit different, I have also sent quite alot of time just contemplating on colour choices but I dont tend to test it out first. For some samurai I am working on a did however buy quite a few books and did lots of research, I also got a pencil line picture of a samurai and mass produced it so as I could test some colour choices but thats the only time i\'ve done that.

 

[Joshua]

most of the time i dont even know what colors to use until i use them ... never mind about the next color thats going to look good besides teal or purple
carpe diem!

 

[sniffles]

@Galante - I can\'t imagine spending that much time preparing to paint. I\'d never get anything painted if I did that.

I usually have a basic color scheme in mind. I\'m often inspired by something I see here, but I tend to do just the opposite of what I see rather than try to imitate it.

 

[No Such Agency]

Galante, I have done similar things. I don\'t plan every mini so carefully but for some, e.g. my CMON Contest 2 mini and my Wood Elf Archer, I have actually made a little Sharpie sketch of the mini, then painted it with my actual paints to see if the scheme that looked good in my head actually looks good. Both of those minis looked very \"right\" to me when I was done, too. Most of the time I just pick several main colours and fill in the details with what looks best in that context.

 

[Shawn R. L.]

I usually just go with what comes to mind and what looks good. Keep it simple. It\'s YOUR mini. do what pleases YOU.

 

[Calavera]

Hmm, I have some general idea most of the time, decide how I want it to be, bright, muted, vibrant and that stuff.
Then I check out some pics here on CMON and try to see some nice ideas, then most of the time I get new ones when painting and act on them

 

[ipaintminis]

i have a general idea, dirty, old, vibrant

and ususally a color jumps out at me,
but for everything else, if im at a complete loss

i just stick a hand into the paints we have and pull out a color and do something with it

 

[Itchy]

Well, 85% of the time when i see a mini in the store and buy it, it\'s because i know 100% what i\'m going to do with it. The rest of the time, it\'s just a super cool mini and i\'ll post it in the WIP thread and ask for suggestions from you kind people (thanks by the way).

 

[kittykat23uk]

I geneally use colour schemes from the natural world as inspiration when I\'m painting. For example, for my wolfen, I have a load of photos of wolves pinned up around my painting area for inspiration. I also browse the galleries here and on other sites and use fantasy art books for reference for ideas if I\'m painting a new figure. There are also times when I just go ahead and paint straight from my head.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Sometimes a plan sometimes I let Serendipity take it\'s course.

 

[donga666]

Originally posted by Dragonsreach
Sometimes a plan sometimes I let Serendipity take it\'s course.

Ah! The \'happy accident\', thats what Ive done for the last few years. I only tend to think about the blocking colours before hand, then after that it is a case of making my mind up \'on the run\'.

Drawing it, then scanning, and trying differant colour schemes on the computer would meen I got EVEN LESS painting done!!!!!

Nope! Sounds like a pain in the Arse!