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toerningA Note on Light and Colour

Published: 2008-07-29 05:21:14 +0000 UTC; Views: 99983; Favourites: 4284; Downloads: 2439
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Description *credit to gadreel for the still life stock: [link] *

I forgot to mention, for a slightly more accurate, if really poorly reproduced, version of the final lighting scheme, check out a painting of mine that used the described light source: [link]

I'll say it again, this is just a collection of thoughts about color and light that I was thinking about today. I was doing a bunch of color studies and decided just to share some of the stuff I've been thinking about...

This is no. 1 of my inner monologue of useless not-tutorials entitled "Tricks To Make It Look Like You Know What You're Doing."

I will ACTUALLY do some art soon, really, as soon as I solve this paint tool sai problem.

wow i am ashamed that I JUST noticed the DD on this business. Thank you, everyone!!!
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Comments: 220

tryToDie [2010-05-19 11:39:05 +0000 UTC]

I never get, what the clue behind the value/hue thing, but this tutorial made my day. thank you very much

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Harusameiro [2010-05-16 01:16:42 +0000 UTC]

Wow, a lot of things make more sense now. I had never really thought too deeply about the balance of usage of desaturated/saturated, cool/warm, etc. I will have to remember to use these principles in my art from now on.

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chuffing-twit [2010-05-06 16:22:28 +0000 UTC]

;3; I definitely need to practice this sort of thing ;__; making skin tones and shadows and blending them properly has always been an issue with me D:

;o; thanks so very much for making this--it is very helpful!

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ryuji90 [2010-03-23 22:32:51 +0000 UTC]

I featured this at [link]
Thanks for the tutorial, dear!

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edielflaco [2010-03-15 19:04:02 +0000 UTC]

The skin part kinda confused me.
But I did still learn a great deal about how light affects colours.
I always knew it wasn't just from light to dark, but I didn't know how exactly it worked.
Thanks for the tutorial, I appreciate you taking the time to inform us.

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Jenzay [2010-03-07 22:09:05 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for making this! It's been really helpful in understanding lighting

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Aftertouch [2010-02-18 00:13:59 +0000 UTC]

This is amazingly useful. I am aware that this is probably old hat for art students, but sometimes you need to see it with a fresh eye to really get the concepts behind it, and this tut does the job flawlessly. Nice work.

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shoutsandwhispers [2010-02-15 02:29:36 +0000 UTC]

Thanks so much

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Excudit [2010-01-29 04:24:51 +0000 UTC]

I'm hanging on to this one for future reference. Thank you!

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PoetryMan1 [2010-01-26 19:19:27 +0000 UTC]

great read! I am currently in the phase you used to be at. Trying to understand greyscale in terms of color. The part about the brown on the banana compared to the tomato red is very interesting. I've been reading a lot of online texts, and yours is added to the list of helpful ones. Thank you very much for putting it so simply!!

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vault8 [2010-01-26 06:10:49 +0000 UTC]

Fantastic tutorial! Added to my :favourite Tutorials" on my front page

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kristi-chan [2010-01-25 21:37:04 +0000 UTC]

This is very helpful, thank you!

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zerooloord [2010-01-25 20:58:17 +0000 UTC]

nice work !

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YogurtPockets [2010-01-25 19:40:42 +0000 UTC]

WOW, that is the most helpful thing I've read in months maybe years. Reading though this I realized that you were talking about exactly what I see (but have never understood) in the work of all the artists I most appreciate! Thank you for sharing your know-how, and you did such a good job giving examples and explaining, thank you! :D

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Danni-Stone [2010-01-25 16:20:47 +0000 UTC]

Very nice! This made me realize that I have a lot of holes in knowledge on color! I am excited to try to put these tips into action! I collected this as a tutorial even though you said it wasn't one, but for me I think it acts as one anyway. I have a few artists friends that may be able to benefit from this as well. Thanks so much for taking the time to create and share this!

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strawberryVilla [2010-01-25 15:49:17 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much!

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Prodigious-Girl [2010-01-19 12:19:23 +0000 UTC]

I keep coming back to this tutorial! It's so helpful!

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andante-ace [2010-01-07 21:44:20 +0000 UTC]

I actually remember reading this quite a few times forever ago, before I was much more involved in art - but I never realized how shading worked best with a warm highlight and a cool shadow, or vice versa. I'll definitely be using this method when making future pieces. :> Thank you!

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NightshadeTea [2009-10-04 19:46:46 +0000 UTC]

So I've just found this, and I have been struggling with this concept for a while now. Color is my absolute weakness. This has certainly helped my understanding. Much appreciated!

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ZiaRenete13x [2009-09-19 16:17:08 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much! Value is always so hard for me because my eyes are bad and color/light tends to blur in the natural world to them. I end up making things too light or too similarly colored because I don't push it enough. My teacher kept telling me this but never took the time to show what she meant. You have done so, and very clearly. So THANK YOU!

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Pericles [2009-08-23 16:13:51 +0000 UTC]

Very-very-very interesting... I need to study this.

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ihartsnape [2009-08-02 13:04:36 +0000 UTC]

Thanks a lot for this wonderful guide! There are definitely some very helpful hints and tips in here I can hopefully make use of.

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Isibi [2009-07-28 15:36:38 +0000 UTC]

*blinks* o.o learn something new everyday, i've just been using black and using different transparencies for shadows xD

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MMWoodcock [2009-07-08 04:10:43 +0000 UTC]

you are the first person to ever explain to me how to use color ... everytime i ask any artist about it (other than my art teach duh ) they say... "it was hard for me at first but i got the hang of it. It just takes practice" ...

how helpful is that?

so thank you. no really... Thank YOU?! it will really really be fun to use these guidelines very helpful <3

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irismuddy [2009-06-29 03:13:01 +0000 UTC]

thanks for sharing!

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dontask4myname [2009-05-13 19:02:28 +0000 UTC]

wow i've been painting for a couple of years and drawing for most of my life and never really thought about the difference between warm and cool colors and how they relate to shadows! this was really helpful i'm definately gonna remeber that next time i embark on some painting!

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morgainej [2009-05-06 03:07:25 +0000 UTC]

Really great tutorial. I learned some stuff I'd never would have figured out myself, especially the warm light=cool shadow thing. Awesome reference.

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Ice-Nile [2009-05-05 22:24:25 +0000 UTC]

Oh god this is so useful!
Thank you so much for sharing this!
I love it <3

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explosive-toaster [2009-04-28 23:41:26 +0000 UTC]

DUDE
This is so incredibly helpful, oh my goodness!
I'm definitely using some of these principles in my next painting!

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MirmusMaximus [2009-04-28 14:05:41 +0000 UTC]

This is a great help! And congratulations for the DD

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tjota [2009-04-28 09:41:35 +0000 UTC]

nniiiiice..! i love that part about the face

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ImperialDestroyer [2009-04-28 09:29:41 +0000 UTC]

Oh, thank you so much! I'm sure many would be pleased. You've just helped artists from all over the globe. You've done a good deed. As an art student, I feel that this note really help me alot. Thanks, and GRATS!!

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Fatts [2009-04-28 06:50:28 +0000 UTC]

ROCK!
As a total beginner on color theory, I Would say I understood 50% of what you have in there. Which means there is so much more to learn for me.
I'm not a painter, I'm a photographer/filmmaker. What interested me here was switching to black and white -

I'll have a read again! Tks a ton!

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raradolly [2009-04-28 06:27:56 +0000 UTC]

This is very useful for me as I struggle to accurately paint color in my digital paintings. Thank you.

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titian [2009-04-28 05:22:30 +0000 UTC]

Very useful information presented in a readable, somewhat goofy manner.

Thanks for the tips!

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White-King [2009-04-28 04:37:47 +0000 UTC]

Nice for beginner ! Very helpful stuff !

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smileychan [2009-04-28 02:27:49 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much! This is very helpful for me, and I'm sure I will use it a lot when drawing. Wonderful tips

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AstroZerk In reply to ??? [2009-04-28 02:14:18 +0000 UTC]

This is very useful! I've always have had a problem with color values and lighting

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esc-ed In reply to ??? [2009-04-28 02:12:54 +0000 UTC]

wonderful, very helpful!

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skydreia [2009-04-28 02:12:11 +0000 UTC]

thank you so much ; ; i've always had problems with color >.< probably because i only did pencil drawing for so long >.>;

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artdh13 [2009-04-28 01:29:19 +0000 UTC]

very useful! thank you.

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NebetSeta [2009-04-28 01:01:05 +0000 UTC]

Cool! Thank you!

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falconmjc07 [2009-04-28 00:26:44 +0000 UTC]

This is a great tutorial, fantastic work! I'd love to see you make some more on different topics

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Kitsune-aka-Cettie [2009-04-28 00:16:17 +0000 UTC]

Awesome, congrats on the DD!

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Slayer-1412 [2009-04-27 23:24:52 +0000 UTC]

extremely helpful tutorial I definitely needed something like this!

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Mamainak [2009-04-27 22:15:15 +0000 UTC]

Fab! Congrats on the DD!

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yummorra [2009-04-27 22:11:28 +0000 UTC]

This tutorial is very helpful to me. I will refer to it when I am trying to shade and color pics. thank you for taking the time to make it.

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RozeUKun [2009-04-27 21:49:41 +0000 UTC]

Wow, there were some INCREDIBLE little tidbits that I hadn't come across before. I knew you shouldn't over saturate, and I knew you should always try to fade into annother color when shading... But I didn't realize it was the opposite end of the spectrum!
Thanks for the tips. ;D I'll put this to good use, for sure!

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therealmizua In reply to RozeUKun [2009-04-27 23:05:12 +0000 UTC]

Exactly what I was going to say! This is going to change both how I look at things and how I colour

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nk-chan [2009-04-27 21:48:10 +0000 UTC]

Actually I think the colors on the last face look great!
Color and atmosphere and stuff... it's all been so hard to wrap my head around. This tutorial is so clearly written, it's definitely a big help! I feel inspired to paint now! :3

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