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TheArtReferences

HIIRAREFS:BasicandIntermidiateguidetocolouringin

TheArtReferences

thehiirablog:

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Welcome to The Art References. Here you'll find

variousreferences,tutorials,advice,andallaround
artisticinspiration.
SomeCommonTags:

What better day to end the year then with a basic guide to colouring This is for beginners or

SOU RCE

intermediateartists.Colouringisabigparttoanartpiece,whetheryoudecidetousecoloursor

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not, thats up to you, but for the most part, having some knowledge on appliance of colour will
reallyhelpyouout!

Digital

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Traditional

ARTISTSWITHANINSPIRINGKNOWLEDGEOFCOLOURAPPLICATION!
Pleasetakethetimetohavealookatotherartistsworksothatyoucaresearchandgetinspired!

Tutorial

Gullacass:Usesbrights,dullsandpastelstocreatebrilliantguro,popandmacabrepieces|

Reference

DA+TUMBLR

Anatomy

TinyCalcium: Old friend of mine who explores brights and mustard colours and places

Animation

themasafoundationfortheirwork|TUMBLR

Advice

BeastPop: Talented with opposing and Triwheel colours. Outstanding cellshading, and

Link

knowshowtoflexiblybendcolourformtotheirwillinpopart.|DA

ConceptArt

H0stel: Fantastic composition of light direction and applies colour to bodies based on

Process

ambientocclusion.|TUMBLR

Challenge

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Affiliates

COLOURSLANG:

Archive

maynotbecanonicallycorrect,Iwillusethesetermstodescribecolourpalatestothebestofmy

Iusesomestrangeslangtoexpresscolourtypesandshadesaswellasgroups.Althoughthey

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ability!
Analogous:Coloursthatarenearoradjacenttoeachotheronthecolourwheel,EG:Redand
Orange

Oppositional/complimentary: Colours that are opposed or opposite from each other on the
colourwheel,EG:CherryandGreen

Nevermissapost!
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TheArtReferences

Follow

Triadic:ColoursthatformatriangleontheColourwheel,EG:Cyan,MagentaandYellow.These
threecolourswhenmixedtogetherwillmakeblack.

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Arrowtype/Quadcolour:Fourcolours,thatgenerallyformanarrowshapeonthecolourwheel.

Tetradic:Coloursthatformarectangleorsquareinthecolourwheel

Neons:Theverybrightestyoucangetacolour,becarefulwhereyouusethemastheycanlook
uglytogetheratthemost.Trytouseneonswhenyouareaddingbrightglowingobjectstoyour
piece.Neonsaregreatforhighlights.

Brights:SlightlywashedNeons.Appropriateifyouhavecharactersthatarecolourful.

Washed:Verywashedbrightswithahintofgrey.Thesearealsousefulforcolourfulcharacters.

Pastels:Colourwithwhiteinthemtomakethemseemlight.

BabyPastel:Pastelwithevenmorewhiteinthem,goodforsubtlehighlights.

Darks:Colourwithblackaddedtothem.Usedmostlyforlineart.

Mustards:Colourswithdarkgreyaddedtothem

Earthen:Colourswithbrownaddedtothem

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Warm and Cool colours: Warm colours are colours that range fromMagenta to Yellow. Cool
onesrangefromLimetoFuchsia.

Straighttones:Agreyscalepalate.orastraightscaleofonecolourfromblacktoitsneonform.

Warmandcooltones:Warmtonesareagreyscalemixedwithwarmcoloursandcooltonesare
greyscalemixedwithcoolcolours.

Skintones:Warmwashedorpastelcoloursgenerallyusedtocolourinskin,buttheydonthave
tobewarmatall!(Iwillnotshowyouapalateforthishowever)
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WHATTOAVOIDWHENCOLOURING:
beginner artists, tend to go ahead and start by colouring their line art with neon and mustard
colours.Neonsarenotnecessarilygoodforbasecoloursunlessthecharacterhasaglow.

Ioftenseelazyattemptstoshade,oftenabeginnerartistwithuseanairbrushanduseblackand
whitetoshadeandhighlighttheirpiece.Thisisnotveryeffective,andImsorrytosayItskind
ofgrossaswell.Trytoavoidbeinglazy.Ifyouhaveapiecethathasboldblacklines,avoidusing
softshadingandairbrushingatthispointoftime.

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Blackandwhiteisntalwaysthebestoptionwhencolouringinyourpiece,butitalsodependson
the style you are trying to convey. If you plan on only using straight tones to colour in a piece,
blackandwhiteisgood.

AGOODBASICWAYTOCOLOUR
ForthisbasictutorialIwillshowyouanicewaytocolourinapiecewithboldlines.Iwillbeusing
MintysClassiccharacterasanexample.

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Begin with using brights that have been washed down a little and washed skin tones if your
characterishumanbased.Avoidusingneonsormustardsifyouareable.Ifthereiswhiteonthe
character,suchasthewhiteonaneyeballortheteeth,considerusingbabypastels.ForMintys
eyeballsIhaveusedababypastelblue.Ihavechosentouseadarkerandmorewashedversion
forherIrises.

Withyoufoundationcoloursplaceddown,useawashedwarmcolourfortheskintone,suchasa
salmon.Ifthecharactershairorfuriswarmcoloured,useapinkorredorangetoshadethatas
well.Usethecellshadingtechnique.Thismaymeanyouwillhavetoerasesomeofyourshading
so be sure to do this on another layer. For your baby pastels, you can use a regular pastel to
shadeit.ForMintyseyesIhaveusedpastelblueandloweredtheopacitybyalittle.

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ForHighlights,Ihavechosentousebabypastelyellow.Iwantedthepiecetobewarm.

Applyingalightairbrushoverthetopofthepiecemakesitfeelalittlesofter.Ihavealsoappliedthe
airbrushovertheinitialborderstocreatecolourbleed,givingaverysubtlereflectiveapproach.

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Colouringyourlineartlayer,particularlyifyouhaveboldlines,canreallymakeapiecelookmore
interesting!Iliketoleavetheoveralloutlineblack.Youcangradientandbleedcolourinyourline
artaswell

Lighttracingisatechniquelotsofartistsuse,wheretheyrunasharplineofhighlightnexttoline
arttodivideborders.

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Thislooksalotnicerthantheblackandwhiteshading,doesntit!?
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Thisisaveryverysimpleguidetoapplyingcolourtoyourpiece!IfThishelped,pleasereblogand
sharethisguidearound!
Ifyouhaveanyquestionsorfeedback,dontbeafraidtosendmeamessage!

#T U T ORIAL#COLORT HEORY #COLOR

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