KidLitArtists.com: Palettes: on color combinations & experimentations

Friday, August 26, 2016

Palettes: on color combinations & experimentations

When proceeding to the final step in an art piece, it can be challenging to find the accurate colors that are needed to express a feeling for each illustration to create an emotional experience through color.

Here you can find some helpful tips for experimentation, as well as some images with colors that I find greatly interesting and inspiring!

-Mixing colors

Finding the right single color for a specific object is the first challenge, here are some mixes of color that I have found very helpful:

Emerald or aqua green + magenta = purple, depending on how much you add of each color it can be colder or warmer
Hostaperm blue (Phtalo blue) + white = royal blue close to cerulean blue
Red-orange (Pyrrole orange) + green-yellow (chromium oxide green + lemon yellow) + white = ochre
Hostaperm green (Phtalo green) + Lemon yellow = wild green

-Color combinations

We might say that we love a specific color, but sometimes we might actually refer to a color contrasting other color (or set of colors) which individually might not be as compelling, but when put next to each other are incredibly beautiful.

Example: blue and yellow during the blue hour. Image source: Shutterbug
(Thanks to my friend Beka for the inspiration on these colors)

Here are some color combinations that might help you create an interesting palette:

Contrasting all colds against one warm color / contrasting all warms against one cold color
Colors that are very close in the color wheel against one contrasting color from the opposite side of the color wheel

Source: Prismacolor color wheel, Pinterest
Triads. You can vary in saturation and value

Source: Prismacolor color wheel, Pinterest