How do you pick your colour recipes?

[Coyotebreaks]

So I'm just wondering how people go about picking their colours, not so much the overall colour scheme, but say you have picked you base colour how do you work out what colours to shade and hi-light with.

this something I struggle with as colours never seem to come out how i think they will when I mix them. but I often have to carry on as its already on the mini at that point.

cheers for any hints and tips

 

[MAXXxxx]

I usually go by the color wheel. With a slight deviation, that I use yellowish off whites (Ivory) for highlighting more often than the color should indicate.
Also quite often(but not always) the shade is a cold color while the highlight is a warm one.

It's really worth watching JBT's first DVD for color theory. There is a TON of info in it.

 

[infelix]

I also use the color wheel for it, and inspiration from other painters and a good dose of dumb luck I think

 

[Zab]

+1 on the color wheel and some color theory books, dvds or even some college (community or otherwise) courses on traditional painting will help with that.

 

[Gandalf the Grey]

This may seem a stupid question but how do you use the colour wheel ? I've never used one though I have seen many mention its use. All I see is a circle full of colours.

 

[MrJim]

This may seem a stupid question but how do you use the colour wheel ? I've never used one though I have seen many mention its use. All I see is a circle full of colours.

The color wheel helps you pick colors that will look good together. It has two basic functions.

The first is colors that will blend well together (those that are adjacent to each other) this is good for planning a color scheme for say a cloak or uniform. Pick the main color you want, then go left or right on the wheel one space and use that as the highlight or accent color you work towards. So for instance, if you are starting with a blue, you would either go toward bluish green or toward purple. Not both.

The second function is selecting complementary colors. These are colors that would go well with the first color, but not in the same component. Assuming you picked blue, if you worked it toward blue/green your complimentary colors would be in the orange/red range. If you worked your blue toward purple, your complimentary colors would be more toward the yellow scale.

It is really helpful for interior design. For example, my living room furniture is olive. Trying to match carpet (green) would have been almost impossible, so we went to the opposite side of the color wheel (didn't actually use a color wheel) and went with burgundy carpet. (green and red being complimentary colors)

 

[Webmonkey]

Depends,.. if it's a pre-defined character (my kakashi hatake model for example) then the colors have already been pre-selected for me. Otherwise, if it's just "random model X",.. then I totally just make that shit up as I go.

 

[Coyotebreaks]

thanks for the replys every one. the colour wheel seems to be very popular. I use it as a guide when picking the overall scheme, but must admit i have not really considered it when mixing colour for lint and shade, I have instead just tried to find a darker or lighter colour to use.

but I will endeavour to give it another go.

 

[BloodFather of Kharnath]

+1 with Maxxx. But also keep in mind it is far deeper than just a compliment or a left and right on the wheel. For instance, in my current project I am using a split complimentary. Here you go opposite the color you are using, and then pick colors left AND right of this on the wheel. Getting too basic with the wheel can look either too cartoonish or child like. For instance, taking a saturated, standard red and using its compliment, a saturated standard green, tends to come out Christmasy and too basic looking. You can move inside and outside of the wheel to make this look more nuanced. So maybe a red-black complimented with a minty green. You get the idea, don't be too basic, try out triads and other techniques.

 

[Darthmarsh]

+ 2 for Maxxx. I tend to go for what looks good in my head. I also collect tones of reference at the start of any project

 

[MrJim]

This is the best color wheel I have found. It uses must more natural / subdued colors.

 

[Coyotebreaks]

cool thanks for the extra info, all very interesting.

I had a read of the of bettys book on mixing colours today. tihings are starting to make more sense.

one thing i found interesting is she says mixing in the complimentary colour de-saturates the colour, making it into more a grey tone, and mixing in black or white lightens and darkens.

whereas I always thought it was the other way round. but yes worth some experiments.

 

[MAXXxxx]

in my blog I wrote about it while painting this figure: http://www.coolminiornot.com/2765777

it's about:
I wanted an autnm cape with orange(brown), reddish and yellowish colors. The compementary for the orangeish base would be blue, so I used a desaturated blue there (shadow grey), but I wanted to use some complementaries for the red and yellow too (green, purple) but that would have been too much (6 colors), so I decided to use green (dead flesh) for highlights and purple for shades.

so I used a tetrad there at the end, but it's basically a complement scheme (blue-orange) with some split complementer scheme (blue - red + yellow) and some extra play on colors.

Meaning in the end the colors were like this:
- trouser: shadow grey shaded with purple and highlighted with deadflesh.
- cape: scurflous brown, patterned with red and yellow, shaded with purple, highlighted with deadflesh
- flesh: dwarf flesh (reddish flesh tone) hightlighted with dead flesh and deepest shades got a bit of a purple
- shirt: bleached bone(yellowish pastel color) aaand guess what, shaded with a bit of purple added to it and highlighted with deadflesh+white.

see a pattern ?

 

[Coyotebreaks]

in my blog I wrote about it while painting this figure: http://www.coolminiornot.com/2765777

it's about:
I wanted an autnm cape with orange(brown), reddish and yellowish colors. The compementary for the orangeish base would be blue, so I used a desaturated blue there (shadow grey), but I wanted to use some complementaries for the red and yellow too (green, purple) but that would have been too much (6 colors), so I decided to use green (dead flesh) for highlights and purple for shades.

so I used a tetrad there at the end, but it's basically a complement scheme (blue-orange) with some split complementer scheme (blue - red + yellow) and some extra play on colors.

Meaning in the end the colors were like this:
- trouser: shadow grey shaded with purple and highlighted with deadflesh.
- cape: scurflous brown, patterned with red and yellow, shaded with purple, highlighted with deadflesh
- flesh: dwarf flesh (reddish flesh tone) hightlighted with dead flesh and deepest shades got a bit of a purple
- shirt: bleached bone(yellowish pastel color) aaand guess what, shaded with a bit of purple added to it and highlighted with deadflesh+white.

see a pattern ?

cool, thanks for the example, things are making more sense now. nice mini to btw

 

[nels0nmac]

However you go about picking your colours.... Be it the colour wheel or natural talent , one thing that I would recommend is that you get a little book and each time you paint something write down the paints that you use in the order that you use them. That way when you hit on something that works you will know how to repeat it. Or if you try something that doesn't quite work for that particular model, maybe some weeks or months later it may be just right for a different model. If you're like me, I can't retain all the recipes that I use on the various minis and as I paint fairly slowly it can be months or even years before I paint similar models. My little books mean I can retrace my painting steps regardless of when I last did it.