Concept art is the form of illustration used to convey an idea for use in films, video games, comic books, and other media. Colours play an important part in this and in films, they can have an emotional attachment and value (red can mean passion, shock, violence, or anger, whilst yellow generally means happiness.)
Some important definitions that I learned are hue (colour/shade), value (brightness/lightness), saturation (intensity of hue), chroma (quality of colour, hue and saturation combined), and mono (one). I also learned that there is more than one set of primary colours – I always thought that there was only one true trio. Turns out, that for different people, the primary colours are different. For painters, red, yellow, and blue are the primary colours and they are generally the ones that we are taught in school. For graphic designers, they are cyan, magenta and yellow, and for scientists, red, green and blue are the primaries. In my opinion, graphic designers are correct. You may be able to create magenta or cyan digitally but I’m thinking in more substantial terms. Red, blue and yellow can be created, and in my books, primary colours cannot – they are what make up every other colour. So, I believe that cyan, magenta, and yellow are the true primary colours because they cannot be made by mixing other colours.
We also discussed additive and subtractive colours. With the additive synthesis, it is adding wavelengths to white light, whilst the subtractive synthesis involves subtracting or absorbing colour.
In colour theory, there is also something called RGB, RYB and CMYK. Each letter stands for colour (R – red, C – cyan, K – black, etc.). RGB is used in digital media because of the pixels in all digital screens which are made up of red, green and blue light. The colour is created by mixing and adding light, however, we cannot negatively subtract light as creating colours with RGB is additive. In Photoshop and after effects, each of the three colours is viewed as a channel with value 0 – 255, 0 being no light and 255 being full light. Therefore, a colour is represented by the three different values (R (0-255)), (G (0-255)), and (B (0-255)). There are over 16,000,000 combinations to choose from! RYB and CMYK are both examples of when colours are subtractive and are used in painting.
The first task we had to do introduced us to the colour wheel and colour harmony. Colour harmonies are schemes used to identify colours that work well together, and it’s best to know a few to know what kind of palette you want in the artwork, animation, film, or media you are creating. The first two are complementary and split complementary. Complementary colours are directly opposite each other on the colour wheel, so create a strong contrast when put together. This effect can be used for different things depending on the colours, like putting only red and black on the screen which can be jarring or ominous. The scheme looks best when one colour is more dominant than the other, never equally each. Split complementary is really similar but one of the colours also uses the hue adjacent to it. This gives more room for creative freedom and feels more lively and vibrant.
Complementary Examples
Split Complementary Examples
Next, we have analogous and triadic. The analogous colour scheme uses colours that are next to each other (adjacent) on the colour wheel. The effect is calming and easy on the eyes, but also quite interesting because a dominant colour emerges, providing some contrast and still allowing for variation. With triadic harmonies, there are three colours involved, equally spaced apart on the colour wheel, which makes a nice balance and looks quite appealing. Together, they usually create a friendly, playful and energetic vibe, making it a great combination for cartoons and animations.
Analogous Examples
Triadic Examples
Finally, there’s monochromatic and tetradic. I had definitely seen monochromatic pallets used everywhere and I think it’s fairly popular. It is the manipulation of value and saturation of only one hue, and it can evoke a strong emotional response depending on which one is used. It works well with single subjects and atmospheres, whilst tetradic works with foregrounds and backgrounds because it is a combination of two complementary colour schemes. They are never used equally, however.
Monochromatic Examples
Tetradic Examples
So far, I’ve been focusing a lot on films that use colour harmony, but it is used a lot in art. In the lesson, we actually analyzed a piece of art in pairs, deciding on which colour scheme was used and what effect it created. The art piece that I was analyzing was Frida Kahlo’s “Self Portrait with Thorn Necklace” and I found it surprisingly difficult to decide on what colour scheme she used. This is because I believed that is could be more than one combination, depending on which colours you think are the main ones of the piece. I settled on analogous and I think it fits best because the first three colours I was drawn to were yellow, green, and the orangey-peach of Frida’s skin. I think she picked these colours because of the effect she was aiming for, calming, yet striking and vibrant; meant to liven the senses, but not overexcite. In my head, the painting somehow translates to another sense – taste. I am reminded of something zesty and refreshing, like lemonade, but at the same time, the yellow leaf is almost a bit more mellow, or sweet, like a hint of mango. It seems rather strange, but that is what the colours remind me of, and I think that is the beauty of art and colour theory, it means something different to each person.
Colour theory is like the science or the art of colour and has commercial, emotional and cultural impacts. For example, every culture has it’s own interpretations on colour, like in Ireland, green is a lucky colour, seen as a sign of fertility and goodness, whilst in Western Culture, it can be representative of greed and wealth. The emotional impacts, I already discussed, how colour can be used to create different moods and communicate an emotion or idea to the audience. Commercial uses are not that commonly known but greatly used, like Cadbury’s signature colour, purple, which is instantly recognisable in adverts because of the companies built-up reputation. Colour is used everywhere and is everywhere. The right combinations can be extremely memorable and can create an entirely different atmosphere with little changes.
