MODULE 5 OF 8

Colour

The colour picker decoded, harmony as deliberate restriction, and the local-vs-light idea most people never get taught.

4 LESSONS  ·  ABOUT 40 MINUTES EACH

LESSON 18

Hue, Saturation, Value

Every colour your screen can show is described by three numbers, and Photoshop's colour picker is a map of all of them. This lesson decodes that map so you can choose colour on purpose instead of clicking around until something looks right. It also nails down the rule that runs through the whole module: value does the work, colour does the mood.

Intermediate  ·  40 min  ·  Photoshop

LESSON 19

Colour Harmony & Limited Palettes

Colours look good together when they have something in common, and the fastest way to guarantee that is to decide in advance which colours you are allowed to use. This lesson covers the standard harmony schemes as hue angles you can actually type into the picker, then shows you how to build, save and stick to a limited palette in Photoshop.

Intermediate  ·  45 min  ·  Photoshop

LESSON 20

Local Colour vs Light Colour

An apple is red, but almost none of the colours you paint on that apple are red. What lands on the canvas is the apple's own colour combined with the colour of the light hitting it. This is the single idea most self-taught artists never learn, and it is the difference between paintings that glow and paintings that look like flat drawings with colour poured on top.

Intermediate  ·  45 min  ·  Photoshop

LESSON 21

Grayscale to Colour vs Direct Painting

There are two ways to get a finished colour painting: solve the values in grey first and add colour afterwards, or choose colour and value together from the first stroke. Both are legitimate professional workflows, both have real limits, and this lesson shows you exactly what those limits are so you can pick the right one for the job.

Intermediate  ·  45 min  ·  Photoshop

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ArtRage 6