Color in digital painting. The only guide you’ll ever need

In this article, we’re going to go through the most important characteristics of COLOR in digital painting.

You don’t need to be an artist, you might have never made a single swipe of brush (although you probably have once you’re reading this article), but there’s no chance you never have made a color choice – be it something as simple as choosing between a red or blue T-shirt.

Colors surround us and make us feel certain ways. They can even influence our decisions! That’s why it’s so important you as an artist have a decent understanding of this element of art.

This is a general overview, but don’t worry – I’ll go deeper into the topics described below in future articles. 😄

Elements of color in digital painting: hue, saturation, and value

Color, as perceived by the human eye, is composed of three essential elements:

Hue: Hue refers to the pure spectrum colors, such as red, blue, and yellow. It represents the basic color names we use to identify different hues.

Saturation: Also known as chroma or intensity, saturation refers to the vividness or richness of color. A highly saturated color appears vibrant and intense, while a desaturated color appears more muted or grayish.

Value: Value refers to the brightness or darkness of a color. It is determined by how much black or white is mixed with the pure hue. Higher values result in lighter tints, while lower values create darker shades.

Color wheel in digital painting

The color wheel is a circular representation of the color spectrum, organizing colors in a logical order. It typically starts with primary colors (red, blue, and yellow) and then moves on to secondary and tertiary colors. The color wheel helps artists identify color relationships and choose effective color schemes for their artwork.

Tint, shade, and tone in digital painting

Tone, tint and shade are fundamental concepts in painting that involve manipulating the brightness and saturation of a color to achieve various effects. 

Tint = pure color + white

To achieve tinted colors in digital painting software: Keep Value high and Saturation low.

Tone = pure color + gray

To achieve toned colos in digital painting software: Keep Value in the middle and Saturation low.

Shade = pure color + black

To achieve shaded colors in digital painting software: Keep Value low and Saturation low.

Color temperature

Color temperature is a concept that relates to how colors feel warm or cool based on their position on the color spectrum. Warm colors like red, orange, and yellow evoke a sense of heat and intensity, while cool colors like blue and green create a feeling of calmness and serenity. This principle is crucial for artists to convey the illusion of light and atmosphere in their digital paintings. 

Color psychology

Warm colors 

• Red: passion, energy, and intensity. Evokes strong emotions and grabs attention.
• Yellow: happiness, optimism, and creativity. Stimulates enthusiasm.
• Orange: excitement, warmth, and enthusiasm. Draws attention and creates a welcoming feeling.
• Pink: sweetness, compassion, and playfulness. Often associated with femininity.
• Brown: earthiness, simplicity, and reliability. Evokes a feeling of warmth and security.

Cool colors 

• Blue: calmness, serenity, and stability. Often associated with trust and reliability.
• Green: nature, growth, and harmony. Often associated with renewal and balance.
• Purple: luxury, creativity, and mystery. It can evoke a sense of royalty.

Other

• White: purity, innocence, cleanliness. 
• Black: elegance, mystery, power.

Color schemes

Color schemes are combinations of colors chosen to create a harmonious and aesthetically pleasing visual arrangement.

Complementary: Colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel. For example, red and green, blue and orange, or yellow and purple. Complementary colors create a strong contrast and make each other stand out.

Split complementary: A base color is paired with two colors that are adjacent to its complementary color on the color wheel, creating a balanced contrast with a touch of variety.

Analogous: Colors that are adjacent to each other on the color wheel. For example, blue, blue-green, and green. Analogous color schemes create harmony and are pleasing to the eye.

Triadic: Three colors that are equally spaced on the color wheel. For example, red, yellow, and blue. Triadic color schemes are vibrant and create visual interest.

Tetradic: Involves four colors arranged into two complementary pairs, providing a rich and vibrant palette that offers both harmony and diversity in visual compositions.

Monochromatic: Variations of a single hue, using different values and saturations; for example, various shades of blue. Monochromatic color schemes offer a sophisticated and unified look.

Color contrast

Artists achieve color contrast by juxtaposing colors of opposing hues (temperatures), value, and saturation. 

Elements of high contrast automatically draw our attention, and it’s a popular technique to use contrast when creating a focal point of an artwork.

How to achieve color contrast? 

• Hue (temperature): Use colors opposite on the color wheel.
• Value: Place light and dark elements next to each other.
• Saturation: Juxtapose saturated and unsaturated colors.

Color palettes

Once, as I was scrolling through my Instagram feed, I saw this great carousel post by @smirnovschool, where they gave an interesting take on color palettes. I thought you might find it useful, so I decided to add a dedicated paragraph to this article.

(The original post is in Russian, but I did my best to translate it accurately). 

Limited palette

Often, the most expressive palettes are the simplest, so limit the number of colors used! 3-6 colors are quite sufficient for most palettes, especially for design.

Concept

Understanding the concept you want to convey through color will help narrow down the choices and better convey the mood. The concept can be anything, for example: energy, sweetness, or winter. And color symbolism and temperature will help choose a suitable palette for your idea.

Neutral colors

Technically, neutral colors result from mixing two complementary colors. However, any colors with very low saturation, such as shades of gray, brown, and cream, are considered neutral. Neutral colors are expressive yet calm. They blend well with others and do not interfere.

Conflict

Color conflict often arises when bright colors are paired with muted ones. This creates a very striking combination due to the high contrast. Choosing lights with similar saturation and correcting the color balance will help find harmony in the palette. However, conflicting colors can sometimes be used in moderation. (I know this part might sound weird, but it sounds equally odd in Russian, at least to me. 🤔)

Focus colors

If you want to create a dynamic palette, choose one or two focal colors and use contrast to draw attention to them. For instance, if you want to highlight the color blue, surround it with warm and complementary shades. Also, pay attention to the ratio of focal colors to supporting ones.

Color relativity

The way we perceive a color can change depending on the colors that surround it. This phenomenon is known as simultaneous contrast. When a color is placed next to another color, it can create the illusion of the first color shifting in hue or brightness. For instance:

1. VALUE: Placing a gray square on a white background can make it appear darker than the same gray square on a black background.
2. HUE: A small blue dot surrounded by red will appear more intense and vibrant than the same blue dot surrounded by green.
3. SATURATION: A pale yellow might appear even paler when surrounded by vibrant and saturated red than it would appear when surrounded by a more neutral or desaturated color.

Color in digital art vs. color in print (RGB vs CMYK)

Finally, let’s end our discussion about color by a short introduction into the concept of color in print and digital formats.

There are two primary color models (spaces): RGB and CMYK.

RGB (Red, Green, Blue): Used in digital art, RGB is an additive color model where colors are created by combining varying intensities of red, green, and blue light. It is most suitable for screens and electronic displays, such as computers and smartphones.

CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key/Black): Used in print, CMYK is a subtractive color model where colors are created by subtracting different percentages of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black inks from white paper. CMYK is ideal for producing printed materials like posters, brochures, and magazines.

In addition, these two color spaces are directly connected to the topic of color management –  a process used to ensure consistent and accurate reproduction of colors across various devices, such as computer monitors, printers, scanners, cameras, and more. 

Color in digital painting. Bottom line

That’s it for the topic of color in digital painting; I hope you’ve found the article useful and enjoyable. 

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Future posts:

• What is line art in digital art?
• Digital painting techniques
• Composition in digital painting: your 101
• How to achieve texture in digital painting?