Color mixing?

R

Ranger370

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I use mostly illutration paints and have the full set. I am ghastly at matching colors and have watched every DVD and tutorial I can find. I am about to do this project and have spent a couple of weeks just picking it apart for colors and shades. So far I see black, dark brown, light brown, white and of course the beak/talon colors. Am I missing anything? The light grey/brown mix in several areas is what has me stumped. Should I just lightly fog it the light brown and then blend it in with the light grey or am I just overthinking it? Any help will be appreciated.flying-eagle-desktop-wallpaper.jpg
 
You might wants try a test spray. Lay down the brown and put white over it in a section , this may give you the desired effect , the thinking is that the white may shift over the brown to give the grey color in. Light costs, then push the highlite areas with more layers to get the opacity you want . Might even want a drop of blue in the white to get it to shift easier to the tone you want. Might not work, but this is the first thing I can think of.


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You might wants try a test spray. Lay down the brown and put white over it in a section , this may give you the desired effect , the thinking is that the white may shift over the brown to give the grey color in. Light costs, then push the highlite areas with more layers to get the opacity you want . Might even want a drop of blue in the white to get it to shift easier to the tone you want. Might not work, but this is the first thing I can think of.


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Wayne, I have decided that this is going to be a long project for me. I am going to take my time and do it an inch at a time if I have to because I am determined to do it right. I picked up my enlarged references today and I see so many areas that I can use my erasers to preserve the highlights and I am going over my color wheel time and again. I like your idea of using the color shift to my advantage. I'll start tonight just tracing out the reference with transfer paper and try to remember to take photos along the way. My struggles might benefit someone else on the forum. Thanks again my friend.
 
If I were going to tackle that, I would stick mostly to buffered, opaque colors, and just spend the time to mix the colors as precisely as possible. It's not exactly the fastest or most fun way, but, in my expirience, if you want photorealism, it's the method that gives the best results.

I would start with the lightest colors and work slowly darker. That way you don't have to worry about the blue-shift effect. You can try spraying some white over the brown on a test piece just to see if it works, but, I would just mix the intended color and spray that. I don't really like "mixing on the board", especially for photorealism. For me, it's just too unpredictable. But, there's no reason not to try to out on a test piece and see if it works.

In general advice, just go slow, break the image down, and paint what you see, not what you know.
 
HCP, I appreciate the advice but I have never attended one of Dru's workshops so I'm not certain I have a good grasp of buffering paint. What I have read on forums and the Internet has been mostly confusing. I stick with the illustration colors because they erase and scratch well on gessoed hardwood panels. Much the same with claybord from Ampersand. I am assuming (maybe wrongly) that the illustration paints are not opaque but no site really says that. This will probably not come out anywhere near photo realistic but I have to give it a try anyway. I would appreciate any information you can provide as I am trying to learn as much as I can. Thanks!
 
I'll try to give you the Cliff's Notes. Although, I have to say up front, it's no substitute for attending one of Dru's workshops. I REALLY highly recommend attending one if at all possible. He's as good of a teacher as he is an artist.

That said, color buffering is basically using a white "base", and mixing in transparent colors to match a given color. That is why the Illustration colors are transparent. They were designed with Dru to work with his color buffer system.

Just as a quick review, color has three basic values; hue, saturation, and value. Hue is, basically, what color it is (red, blue, oragnge, whatever). Saturation is how pure the pigment is (i.e. is it REALLY blue, or is it a bit dull?). Value is how light or dark the color is. If you look at a black and white picture, you're seeing purely the color values.

Using a white base as a buffer allows you to "lock in" the value of the color. Like an opaque paint, once it reaches saturation, you could have a coat of paint an inch thick or a 1/4 mil thick, and it will be the same. The reason why that is an advantage is that with transparent colors, if you hold the trigger even a fraction of a second too long (or not long enough) the value will be too dark or too light.

The basic method is to isolate a color (start with lighter colors and move to darker ones). The easiest way to do this is to cut a small "window" on a white 3"x 5" note card, and tape it to the reference pic so that the goal color is showing through the window. Then, mix a buffered color match. Mixing "in the cup" isn't recommended here. Have a separate cup, mix the color as close as you can, then put a few drops into your airbrush, and test spray it on the edge of a white piece of paper. Then, compare your color to the isolated color, and adjust as necessary. It will take quite a few tries at first, but you will get better at color matching the more you do it.

After that, indentify the areas on the painting with that color, and apply it where you see it.

For things like feathers, hair, or fur, I'll usually identify the lightest value, and spray a base coat of that down, followed by a coat of transparent base. Then I'll mix up my transparent colors, apply them in light coats, and use my scratching and erasing techniques, being very careful not to scratch through the base coat.

There's a ton more to it that Dru could show you that I can't, but that's the really, really basic description. (of the 4 days of course time, the part I'm describing makes up maybe an hour of the class time, just to give you an idea of how much more there is in the real deal)
 
Reece, watch Mitch's vids on portraits, this is exactly how he does it. Kind of gives you an idea. I think it took him 17 tries to get the base color right for one of them.
 
Thanks guys. I know that's a simple answer to a complex question. I assume you could start with a white (should it be Illustration or Wicked?) and add the illustration color until you get a match. Since the illustration colors are all transparent it would seem you would need to use an opaque from another line. Is this correct or am I reading your answer wrong? I am going to try to make it to a workshop when I can get the time off. I think it would be an invaluable experience.
 
Reece the illustration white is not transparent. It is designed for just this method. Amazingly it sprays better at lower air pressure as well . I was detailing with the white today, had spitting, raised the pressure and no luck, lowered it way down and I was a happy camper.


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Reece the illustration white is not transparent. It is designed for just this method. Amazingly it sprays better at lower air pressure as well . I was detailing with the white today, had spitting, raised the pressure and no luck, lowered it way down and I was a happy camper.


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Thanks Wayne, I have found that all the illustration colors work better for me if I nearly close my MAC valve. Sure is different from other paints. Thanks for the info on the white. It makes sense that it would be opaque to use with Dru's system but I was not sure so it's always better to ask.
 
I know I'm a little late to the party, but can the illustration paints be used for automotive applications?
 
Try picking the lightest brown tone or the one you see the most off..use that as your base opaque and do all the detail work in that for feathers etc..I'd probably then make a lighter tone of this original brown by adding some white to the mix I have going and also another darker version by adding more brown to the mix..Use these as another two base layers to give it all some depth and of course these will still be opaque so will cover whats below when needed..Then break out 5-6 variety's of transparent brown to tint all that original opaque work and to blend shadows etc..But GL, will be a fun project and in reality there is a dozen ways ya could go about it..
 
I am no colour expert by a looooong, loooong way. I don't know what I'm doing and pretty much wing it, but just take comfort in the fact that the more you do it, the easier it becomes, and instinct will start to kick in. It may take many many tries, and a long time at first, but you will develop a feel for it in time. My tips (not very good tips admittedly :D, but it's all I have) are make sure you have enough colour mixed - it sucks when you only need to add a teeny bit more, but you've run out (yes I am talking from experience LOL), and also when you've made a colour , spray some on a card at different densities, and do a couple of lines for good measure, and then write down the mixture you used i.e 1 drop blue, 2 yellow, 6 reducer, and you can build yourself up a nice colour recipe book, that will hopefully save some time in the future. It may even be worth doing this over any other different coloured surfaces you think you may use in the future, as colours will look different over them.
 
Old post guys, 9 months haha. Wished there was a way to time stamp a thread to stop posts lol

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^ Nah doesn't matter Immortal, old post or new they may all help a beginner who may have a similar question or thought..
 
Old post guys, 9 months haha. Wished there was a way to time stamp a thread to stop posts lol

Every post has a time stamp, not sure if tapatalk displays it when searching through the forum, but when using a web browser it is at the bottom of the post beneath the signature.

Like others have pointed out, even dead threads can be pertinent though so we do not mind when someone brings them back to life... (Zombie Uprising!) lol
 
HCP's description of the buffer system is valuable information. Especially when people can't afford or travel to take Dru's class.
Old threads like this are fine. When questions arise they will appear in forefront again. Nothing wrong with that. :)
 
Beside old threads bumped give noobs like me to peruse with out necessarily search for it. When it come s to picking colors I like to stay away from dead hues.
 
It's funny, I work the complete opposite. I use a white base then layer Transparents over the white. I can see how mixing it with opaque would prevent the saturation from getting away from you. It's a slow method. Great for illustrations, but when comes to speed needed in the automotive world, it takes too long. I basically paint my entire image in white, hitting all the values from 0 to 100% all using the same white. Once the road map is complete I then layer Transparents over it then come back in and do my darkest darks then finish with highlights.
 
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