Color Theory 1

Color Theory 1

Color can completely transform your art, but for many, it’s also one of the most intimidating aspects to master. The good news is, once you grasp a few basic concepts, choosing colors will feel much less overwhelming! So, let's break it down, starting from the very beginning.

Saturation is the intensity and vibrancy of a color. Think of it as the difference between a bolder, vivid red compared to a duller, washed-out red, as you can see in the scale below. 

In other words, saturation is how powerful a color can be, and learning to control it is a great way to highlight the focal points of your pieces. Higher saturation draws the eye, while lower saturation tends to recede into the background. 

And finally, there’s value. Value is another word for brightness: how light or dark a color can be.

Values are a great way to create contrast in your work. In scenes mostly composed of darker values, incorporating lighter values at the focal point draws attention. Similarly, in scenes mostly composed of lighter values, using darker values achieves the same effect. To learn more about value, check out this article.

Alongside these three basics, it’s important to understand color impact as well.

Warmer colors can represent more aggressive emotions, while colder colors can represent calmer or sadder emotions. Adding these colors to bring emotion to your piece will greatly impact your atmosphere.

For example, red can represent passion and danger. This led me to choose it as a primary color for this illustration––a passive observer watches a tragic scene unfold––where both love and sacrifice are prominent themes.

In contrast, blue represents calmness and stability. So, for pieces with a more relaxed vibe such as this one, where two characters enjoy the presence of glowing jellyfish in an aquarium, I chose to use blue as the dominant color.

For this piece, I wanted to show the impact of passive observance and obsession, where a character creates without realizing her muse (alongside many, many others) are watching. So, I chose to use a lot of yellow, a color linked to cowardice and deception.

As you can see, the only differences in color are the lightness and darkness of the blues, as well as how saturated different elements are.

Going back to contrast, this character’s coat and hair have a darker value, making him stand out against the lighter background. Meanwhile, the face––the intended focus of this piece––is more saturated with a lighter value, drawing the viewer’s eye.

Using complementary colors, which are colors opposite each other on the color wheel, is a great way to make elements stand out, create contrast, and bring life to your art.

Below are some complementary color combinations you can use. These pairings are a great starting point if you're unsure which colors to combine in your piece. Feel free to experiment and see which ones work the best for you!

In this illustration, I combine the complementary colors yellow and purple. Here, I also consider the meaning of these colors when choosing this palette. The composition is very extravagant and glamorous, corresponding with purple’s association to luxury and yellow’s link to wealth.

We can see how value and saturation also play their respective roles. In this piece, the character is the focal point––hence, he’s surrounded by greater saturation and brighter colors, while darker values are used for the foreground architecture.

On the other hand, I use blue and orange as the main colors for this illustration. Blue is a color associated with stability, and orange with optimism, aligning with the piece’s fantasy-like, tranquil feeling, where curious dragons explore a library alongside the characters.

To further emphasize the mood, I used a lot of saturation, supporting the warm, inviting atmosphere. Notice that the darker, less-saturated elements create a “frame” to the focal points, capturing the viewer’s attention.

Another nice color combination is analogous, which are colors next to each other on the color wheel. If you’re going with this scheme, I recommend you choose three to four main colors to keep the palette cohesive.

As an example, this piece of mine uses turquoise, green, and yellow as the main colors. The characters relax in the warm sun, while fish swim peacefully in the waters.

This analogous scheme dominates the majority of the piece, but we can also see the combination of red and green (complementary colors). The saturated red is most notable in the characters’ clothing, highlighting them as the piece’s focus.

In this piece, I used the analogous scheme of red, orange, and yellow (with some hints of purple). Exploring a convenience store, the characters are immersed in wonder and intrigue. The saturation here is exceptionally high, further pushing the piece’s warmth and nostalgic feeling. Once again, we can also see some complementary color pairs: hints of yellow and purple, as well as red and green, are scattered throughout the illustration.

If these combinations are difficult to remember, that’s okay! All you really need to remember is one thing: opposites attract. In other words, using a main pair of complementary colors (with a few flashes of other complementary pairs) in your pieces is a great way to create contrast. 

An easier way to remember this is: choose three colors next to each other (analogous colors), and three colors directly opposite your first trio (another analogous pair). Together, these two groups will naturally form complementary pairs across them.

For example, you can use red, orange, and yellow (an analogous scheme) with green, blue, and purple (another analogous scheme). This will allow you to use both complementary and analogous combinations in your work.

Returning to this piece, I use analogous combinations of red, orange, and yellow, paired with blue, indigo, and turquoise. Red and turquoise/green, orange and blue, and yellow and indigo are complementary color pairs. Notice how the red and turquoise scheme dominates, while flashes of the other complementary colors create a nice balance.

So, when you pair two analogous schemes like this, the colors naturally become complementary to each other, creating contrast while still feeling cohesive.

Now that we’ve covered the basics of color, it’s time to implement what we’ve learned!

Begin painting your reference, but do not color pick from it–– choose your colors based on what you see. I recommend limiting zooming in when doing these studies, to maximize time and not get caught up in the small details. 

Below are a few of my studies (no color picking, 15 minute time limit).

Another way you can study color is by doing artist studies (check out this article for more information). Some artists who are phenomenal at color include Diyokama, Mika Pikazo, and Redum. 

Select an artist of choice to study, as well as a few of their pieces with colors you like. Once again, set your timer for 10 to 15 minutes, and do a study of their work without picking colors from the reference.

Below are a few of my artist studies.

After doing some studies, you’ll be able to train your eye to choose color much better, and get a sense of what color combinations go well together. Then, you can apply these combinations in your own art!

Finally, here’s a fun game you can play to help train your brain to pick colors. You’ll be shown some colors, then asked to recreate them from memory using hue, saturation, and value sliders. Try it out, it may help with the studies as well!

Color will always be one of the trickier parts of art to master, but hopefully it feels a little less intimidating now. Keep doing those studies, keep experimenting, and the rest is just practice!

Once you feel comfortable with these basics, head over to Part 2, where we'll cover color context, atmospheric techniques, and how to actually apply all of this in your illustrations from start to finish.