[philbert]

Hi everyone, this is pretty much my first post to these forums. I had an old account here once, but I can't for the life of me remember the login information.

This is a doodle I did at work today, which I thought was pretty good at first, a little washed out, but pretty enough.



Then I decided to try adjusting the colors in ps, and realized that although my color choices were basically good, the saturation was completely off.



I would really appreciate some tips on how to improve my color sense!

[Duracel]

I wouldl say, visit goodbrush.com as often as possible - look and learn.

Well, i think its just a question of time and practice.


But so far, this is no bad question, so i ask with a picture of this forums master:


(by Craig Mullins)
_________________
Lars G�tze

www.duracel.de Gallery

Detailling a speedpainting is nothing but speedpainting in detail.

[fffredffflickssstone]

Hello, I would love to answer this question briefly, but the subject of color is not an easy one to answer quickly. THere is so much to it. How intense do you want to make the picture(chroma), how contrasty do you want the image(from a minor key of contrast to a major key of contrast), what color family do you wish to represent(analogous color scheme, brown palette, impressionistic, complementary, etc.)what are you painting and what is the intent of the image(is it illustration, fine art, concept art,etc) these things weigh in your approach.

So you see, and I am not even though with the list, but you can see its a big one. There is a lot to it.

MY BEST ADVICE IS THIS: start with value. COlor is value once you recognize this. Color is value. Value, is what we learn with in the beginning. THat is, pencil is value, charcoal is value, and value only. THe paper, the white and light values, the charcoal the dark values. Draw with value and get your values to work first. Look at Spooges image here, it is a monochromatic image with a minor key of contrast. It is not full color, so that is moot. It is illustrated, it creates mood. The monochromatic colors enhance the moods emotional statement. It is done with good, great, value relationships. There is depth, there is direction, there is transition, it is well handled, and there aint a darn detail.

Start with these sorts of images first. Work in black and white, work in black and white from a color image and see if you can translate it into black and white appropriately with the correct values. If you can do this, then you are ready to tackly the big ugly monster of color.

Anyway, if you have any questions regarding anything I mentioned, fire away, the more you ask , the more specific I can answer this question for you.

See ya.

Fred

[oDD]

very interesting fffred, i will try that excersize.

philbert: i don't know much BUT form my small expirience when playing with curve tool in ps (adding more contrast) the saturation of all colors increase, so when i add contrast the next thing i do i go to image>adjustments>hue/saturation and decress the saturation (when i do that the contrast geats weeker as well.) I'm telling this to show you that you cant tell that your colors were too saturated at the begining. ( Am i right ? ) Anyway thats why i'm learining hard to lay colors the way they don't have to by tweaked later.
_________________
portfolio | art blog

[AndyT]

Sounds like a good exercise. I like the images though philbert. What were you going for?
Less contrast?

Here's a link to 'Creative Illustration' by Andrew Loomis. Part Two: Tone
http://www.fineart.sk/loomis/page_04.htm
(Part 3 is Color)

Might be interesting.
_________________
http://www.conceptworld.org