Colour Theory

Experimenting with Colour

Over the past few weeks while studying for this degree, I have been experimenting with colour and colour theory. 

“Colour! What a deep and mysterious language, the language of dreams.”

— Paul Gauguin

Colour Theory is a way that artists communicate with their audience to try to convey emotion and feeling in their artwork. The theory is that different colours have different meanings attached to them by society, but these meanings can also differ between cultures. One such example is in the western world white is a colour that symbolises purity, which is why many people chose to wear white as a wedding gown, however, in China white is a colour that is associated with death and so white is generally worn at funerals or when in mourning. 

   

This can cause some trouble for games artists as video games can be accessed by many different cultures thus means that if we used a certain colour with a particular meaning in mind this could easily be misinterpreted. This is even true for games where the target audience is western culture as Colour Theory is subjective and ones persons opinions on a colour may not be the same as someone else's. However, Colour Theory is based off of the general consensus of the society so generally Colour theories are a good first point of call for a concept artist especially if the games target audience is not yet finalised. 

Colour Schemes

Many artists use different colour schemes in their artwork. This is to convey different things depending on which schemes are used. 

• Analogous: An analogous colour scheme is the use of colours that are next to each other on the colour wheel, for example, yellow, orange and red. This conveys a sense of harmony throughout the piece.
• Complementary: A complementary colour scheme is the use of two colours on opposite sides of the colour wheel, for example red and green. This produces something that sticks in the viewers mind but the overuse of complementary colour schemes can be tiresome on the viewers eyes.
• Triadic: Triadic colour schemes use three different colours from equal points around the colour wheel, an example of a triadic colour scheme is purple, green and orange. This can convey a sense of both contrast and harmony in the piece.

I have researched some artists who use an analogous colour schemes.

This piece by JMW Turner called 'The Scarlet Sunset' uses an analogous colour scheme of red, yellow and orange, the use of these warm colours gives a comforting effect but also the use of a desaturated red to produce a mist like effect is really pleasant. 

 

Conversely this screen cap of Deadcells showing an analogous colour scheme of dark blue, purple and pink conveys a colder meaning to the game scene. The game itself is a game where the player needs to fight their way through the castle of the tyrant ruler and defeat him. The dark stonework and deep purples convey the darker setting for the game.

Using these examples I tried to produce my own artwork using analogous colour schemes.

Using only particular colours I found difficult, I am quite happy with the crab in the bottom right and the landscape in the top right. I could have used some changes in the saturation to add more depth to everything. I also should have used more even tones in the other pieces as it means that these pieces in my opinion do not have much feeling to them. Colour theory is very much something I need to improve on especially when relating it to the target audience.

Bibliography

Turner J MW, 1830-40. The Scarlet Sunset. [Watercolour and gouache on paper] Tate, London

Vasseur T, 2017. BlackBridge [Online] ArtStation Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/3VDL2