Coloring Lorna Please CRIT!!!

[Morganza]

I just started coloring her, I'm still doubtful this will pan out to anything good, but it's practice. So any tips, crits are helpful!

[The P.R. Man]

I'm not much of a colorist, but well, the arm looks good so far! and it was a great drawing to begin with.

[Cantpaint]

Personally I would try to avoid using white when it comes to creating skin tones but other than that I like what you are doing

[Toddoss]

get some darks in the mix as well. you will stunt your depth if you dont work mid-dark like your're workin your mid-light

[Morganza]

Thanks dudes, I'm having trouble figuring out the darker areas, but I will continue to play with the shading.

[Electronick]

Don't forget, Morganza - real human skintones have mix of subtle reds, blues, and greens. Try to slightly mix these in to avoid a "plasticky" feel to the skin. Easier said than done, though.

[darqjakob]

First off, nice drawing, well sorted.

As for the colors, I'm not sure if you have other layers going on that you didn't post here, but if you only have a skin tone layer going, that is your first problem. Give the whole picture a wash of one color. Whatever value your background is will tell you how light and how dark the values of your main figure need to be. Dark brown shadow on her arm will look way different on a light blue background then a dark red.

Second, you need to determine what your light source is, how many there are, the colors of those sources, and what intensity they are. Yellow light on peach skin is going to look more orange. Blue light on peach skin will look more purple.

Third, you need to lay in the base colors for all the objects. All objects can reflect, absorb, or magnify light/color. So if her shirt is blue it will affect what color shadow will be on her arms, depending on the color of the background/sky.

Color/light theory is super complex. Here are some of the rules which I've gathered, which I've posted on here before and you might find useful if you don't already know them.


Color and Light

X. From light to shadow (Value), Hue/color moves from least saturation(light), to most saturation (shadow). This is expressed in a downward diagonal movement in photoshop's color picker.

X. Any Hue/Color, except those painted in white light, when a value shifts from light to dark, so does the Hue.

X. When a Value Shift, Causes the Hue to Shift, it can be expressed like this in Photoshop's HSB COLOR SLIDER:

Brightest Hue Value LOWER then 180
Warm Light, shadow moves to LEFT COLOR SLIDER.
Cool Light, shadow moves to RIGHT COLOR SLIDER.

Brightest Hue Value HIGHER then 180
Warm Light, shadow moves to RIGHT COLOR SLIDER.
Cool Light, shadow moves to LEFT COLOR SLIDER.

X. Reflected Light can never have a Higher VALUE then the Source light of the Reflection, unless the Reflected Surface is a MAGNFYING SURFACE like Glass, Crystal, Mirror, and ect.

X. Whether on the Warm or Cold side of the color wheel, almost all light expressed in a painting shifts from warm highlights to cold Shadows. Light with Cold highlights and Warm shadows are extremely rare. Cold Highlights and Warm Shadows generally occur on overcast days, winter environments, or to give something a creepy/dead vibe.


General Color Rules

X. Grey colors are an a foil to bright colors, making them stand out.

X. IF the lit color/hue becomes grey because of the light, then the midtone and shadow, should get slightly warmer or cooler in hue, depending on whether the light is warm or cool.

X. A color will become grey, when lit with its complementary color.

X. All colors/hues can be related by mixing a common hue with each, thus creating Color Harmony.

X. Start a composition with three chosen primaries(Not the" Primaries". Primary here means, main colors chosen for art piece), and relate all colors to those.
X. A good rule of thumb, is one primary color, two grayed primaries. Primary as in base color.

X. Local Color is color uninfluenced. Whatever hue the light is, must mix with the local color.

X. Avoid primary colors in backgrounds, keep them in your area of interest.

X. For smooth transitions between the edges of hues, use transitional colors on the wheel.

[Morganza]

I appreciate the help Electronicon and Darqjakob, especially the rules, I'll be learning these as I go. Updated again.

[Electronick]

Whoa nice post Darqjakob!

[Morganza]

Still working it!

[Bruce Lee]

I don't think I noticed this before, Morg, but her left eye seems a little higher than her right. Might be something you can cut & paste in Photoshop to fix.

As far as the color goes, looks like you're getting off to a good start! Lots of good dimension in her right arm!

You're really doing my gal justice, man!

Loston

[ChrisMcJunkin]

good job on the arm thus far. Kind of looks like Jamie Presley (My Name is Earl) in the face. I have to say that the line indicating the flat of the nose seems kind of odd. Other than that this looks awesome all around.

[Einar]

Good progress on the arm! Keep it up, man! (next colouring stage is wet t-shirt effect:-)

[Morganza]

Experimenting...

[Morganza]

I don't think I noticed this before, Morg, but her left eye seems a little higher than her right. Might be something you can cut & paste in Photoshop to fix.

As far as the color goes, looks like you're getting off to a good start! Lots of good dimension in her right arm!

You're really doing my gal justice, man!

Loston

Oh I'm going to do her some justice alright...