If you are a beginner painter who aims at creating realistic paintings, you have probably experienced how frustrating it can be to try and get the colours just right, exactly as you see them. Like me, you've probably mixed colours that should get you the result you want only to end up creating something that looks like "mud". That's where colour theory can help you. Here is what I've learned and what you need to know about colour theory to elevate your art to the next level.
Planning your palette
Planning your colour palette in advance is a great way to ensure you get the results you're after.
Option 1:
You're working with a reference image. Try to break down each tone in the picture into several basic colours.
Option 2:
We are going to focus here mainly on that option that is if you're not working with a reference image, but from your head. In that case, your colour scheme depends mainly on the mood you want to create with the picture. Some colours work great together, but beyond aesthetics, colours naturally convey a mood. Bright, vivid colours tend to convey joy, dull and dark colours melancholy, some tones are soothing, other excite, so you need to take this into account and choose the combination of colours that matches the mood you have in mind for this particular painting.
Hues (colours how we know them)
When you get started, it might be useful to use a colour wheel like the one below. The first color wheel was invented by Isaac Newton as a product of his light and prism experiments in 1666. The colour wheel typically includes the 3 primary colours (red, blue and yellow) along with 3 or 4 secondary colours. Blue, green and purple, the colours showing here on the left side of the wheel are considered cool, while yellow, red and orange, the ones on the right side of the wheel are usually considered warm colours.
However, remember that how warm a hue is, is relative to the colour they are compared with.
For example a "Green Gold" can be seen either as a cool yellow, or as a warm green!
Complementary colours: 2 colours opposite to each other on the wheel are called “complementary”, together they create a bold contrast, that is perfect to draw attention on a subject for instance. Be careful not to try to use them evenly. One should be dominant and the other in smaller amount.
An example of complementary colours would be yellow and purple used side by side like in the illustration below.
Analogous colours: If you choose to combine 2 or 3 colours that are sitting close to eachother on the wheel, called “analogous” colours, you will have a softer effect, easier on the eye.
For example you could choose to use only dark blue, sky blue and a cool green in your painting.
Another example below shows how you can use almost exclusively shades of purple and pink, the only exceptions being the gold trumpet and the star.
Triadic colours: At last, another interesting typical combination is the triadic, it consists in choosing for your image 3 main colours that are equally distant on the wheel. The triadic gives a stimulating and playful effect. It is the hardest combination to get right.
If you are a beginner, I recommend you to start with a limited colour palette, consisting in a combination of 2 main analogous colours and their declinations (values and chroma that we are going to see below). That will minimise the risk of getting it wrong.
Values (Light and dark)
The German poet Jonathan Wolfgang von Goethe defined, in the 18th century, a colour concept based entirely on how the colours are perceived by the human eye depending on dark and light values, showing how important those values are. Without values, your painting would look flat. So after you have chosen the right colour combination, the next thing is to decide where the light is going to come from and how intense you want it to be, this will help you place your highlights and shadows accordingly. A very strong contrast will create a more dramatic effect, while a light one will create a more calming atmosphere.
In any case, avoid pure white and pure black in your painting! Remember that what we call "Whites" are merely very high value colours and what we call "Black" just very low value colours.
Below is a painting where I used very strong contrasts with a light coming from the right hand side of the painting.
Chroma (intensity)
Chroma defines how intense or vivid a colour is. Mixing paint colours tends to neutralise them, in other words, make them look less intense. This is why you should try to avoid mixing. So what to do? You are left with 2 options: Either you buy more different paint tubes for each shade you need, or you can break down the tones into many different colours that you paint in touches next to eachother with minimum blending.
Using acrylic pens
This is not really colour theory but more like an additional tip. I found that using a white or black gel acrylic pen to draw some tiny details or ornaments over a coloured area or enhance some details work great. Keep it for the very last touches, only after you have done all of the layering and gradients to your heart content.
I used a black acrylic pen to paint the whiskers on my fox here below
I hope this was helpful. Please do share and comment with your own tips!
All paintings shown here are available as print in my shop here: https://www.aurelie-s-art.com/category/all-products
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