Colour Theory

For this assignment, we looked at colour theory. There was a video to watch, and then we were given two similar pictures of Yoda from Star Wars to practice what we had learnt. 

The left image was to be coloured using a medium saturated analogous colour scheme. The right needed a desaturated complimentary colour scheme. 

Using the advice from the video, I picked out my colours. Analogous colours are next to each other on the colour wheel and I tried to make sure my colours were quite saturated but not blinding. 

I got started by putting some colours down onto a multiply layer. Here is my progress on the first Yoda.

After I put down the base colours, I picked one of the browns and used that to colour in the shadows on the same layer.

Then I cleaned it all up on a new layer. Here is the final image for my medium saturated analogous Yoda.

I am very pleased with this, though I think it might be a little bit too saturated. Either way, it was great practice at colouring grayscale paintings and I learnt that you can't just put down base colours on multiply, you have to also add some colours to the highlights and shadows for depth. 

For the next Yoda, I had to pick out complimentary desaturated colours. I put them onto a grey background, the same grey as the one in the Yoda image. I picked out quite a range, having some saturated colours on there, however this was to ensure I stayed away from them and kept the painting desaturated. We learnt from the video that complimentary colours schemes work best when one colour is dominant and the other is for small details. I picked yellow and purple because a lot of Yoda's colour scheme is made up of pale yellows and browns, so I thought that the yellow would be best choice for a dominant colour. 

Like the last one, I started by putting down the base colours on a multiply layer, before adding in some purple to the shadows, hair and eyes, and cleaning it all up. 

This one works very well. Yoda's colour scheme is very monochrome so this still looks just as recognisable as the first one, if not more. The lightly added purple tones to the shadows helps the dominant colour pop out more and again, adds depth.

I really loved this assignment. I love colour theory, having studied it before in my own time. I started drawing so that I could mess around with colours on my own pieces and I was very excited working on this assignment all the way through. I got to try out new things, like turning a grayscale image bright and saturated, and I learnt that even a desaturated palette can still be colourful and eye catching.