This is a problem I've tried to deal with for the past few years that I can never get past. Im self taught, never went to any kind of school and I think I've honed in a decent black and white messy style that looks good. I have wanted to branch out to color my portraits but any attempt I make turns out looking like the right in picrel. The left image was made about a year ago and I can easily reproduce the style, I just have genuinely zero clue what I'm doing wrong in regards to trying to color something. What am I doing wrong?
>>7720621take a ref, study it and maybe spend more than 20 minutes on it
>>7720621Study value first anon, color is secondary to understanding the shape in planes. Understand how light would hit simple objects, learn about local value and all the different types of shadow and light a cube and a sphere could possibly have. Have you studied a sphere before? No? Then how could you ever possible jump to a face?Have you simplified these shapes in your canvas? No? Then go do it. Understand, think, do.Color is super secondary to value!
>>7720621Saying you don't know how to color is like saying you don't know how to construct a head. There are lot of ways to color and a bunch of techniques you can use. The problem with color is usually restriction. Learn the color wheel, learn color theory pick out your colors before hand (try to keep it aligned with color harmonies: split complimentary, analogous,etc.), watch Marco bucci vids on how color moves on the color wheel, and if all else fails open up those sliders- but make a note of if the colors are too saturated/desaturated,light/dark, or warm/cool so you can know your common pitfalls. You need to make the mistakes to understand the gaps. >>7720678While I agree value is extremely important, and everyone ought to check their values while using color, it can often be an excuse to procrastinate with color I know I have for a long time thinking "I need to get values right, before moving to color!" then I see people with shit art starting out using color better than I can so I went into the deep end. .
>>7720621Study grayscale first and then color, spend as much time as needed to make it fix in your head. There were some cases where i had to spend days on a single project just to figure shit out, then when i got to my next project i had more flexibility on how to go about it. Your first projects will most likely look poopy shid, but the next ones will be miles better.Also, learn about color temperature and hue shifting, it's 70% of the topic.When you go about choosing colors for a project that you created, pick references and images that tickles your fancy and experiment with integrating the colors on these references on your own project. Like copying a light scheme, color of clothes, skin color, object design...Some videos about this topic that helped me a lot:https://youtu.be/cAwT1EXzckw?si=D7ueFzhx-7ThkeB4https://youtu.be/FtQA9_vtREU?si=_B5Y6OHeT3Vwwncnhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJitss58XKc&list=PLvHJ_CyroK30AGmr5CP1UksbGIlqbdr12&index=31
>>7720621I recognize that ancient meme
>>7720731I can tell that you are a beg because you are separating value from color, value is a color property
>>7720881>*studies value*>ok now how do i get good at color?>study value bro
>>7720894What does it mean to be “good at color” for you? And how is value not part of studuing color that OP clearly needs to go back to?
>>7720621paint still lifesa bunch of them
>>7720911>OP clearly needs to go back to?OP needs to actually try, because the one on the right isn't even half way done,
>>7720881You clearly read more theory than you do actually make pictures.Value is a property of color but you don't need to study it exclusively before learning about color especially considering each hue has its own chroma. A fully saturated blue is darker than a fully saturated yellow. Values alone won't teach you this. Color relativity and color temperature are also things separate from value. You think the Impressionists studied value? They just judged the color relationships.
>>7720977Color relativity and color temperature are BOTH about stylistic choice, you were taught a certain school that aims a certain specific style/thing. To really study color, in depth, you’d know this. The most important thing for a beg is to accurately do 1:1 drawings on black and white. And I mean drawings, not paintingsOP, If you want to study fast and hardcore do this, if you want to experiment with color and can’t gather excitement for the boring then be careful about frustration. You can always follow a youtuber that you like to trust their advice if that’s easier for you. So, find someone good you like that gives advice and follow it ok? The important thing is to keep doingAlso, fuck this anon, my professors graduated from Repin and I also study Anime so I’m the most autistic here and have utmost authority
>>7720621if you can work with values just use gradient maps. it'll get you used to seeing them translate into tone.
>>7721382>Color relativity and color temperature are BOTH about stylistic choiceYou are completely clueless.
>>7721526They are largely stylistic choices, they exist in illusion and reality because they are both about perception. Even in real life. When warm light automatically creates cooler shadows, your brain exaggerates the effect for readability. It is mostly an illusion inside the brain, which is what concerns color. Illusion, critical choice, all things that are better for advanced craftsmen which OP clearly isn’t
