Color Theory

In every good art piece there are colors or shades that help express beauty. Some novice artists however don’t understand why these colors look so good in the art piece. It’s because the artist who created the piece knows color theory. What is color theory? Color theory is matching and combining of colors to make a piece work. How do you know what colors work together? Well let’s look at a color wheel. The most important colors are the primary colors; red, yellow, and blue. With these three colors you can make every other color. This leads us to our secondary colors; orange (made by yellow and red), green (made by yellow and blue), and violet/purple (made by red and blue). These are colors made from primary colors. Lastly we have tertiary colors: yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet, red-violet, and red-orange. The color combination is self explanatory. Now you have a full color wheel. “What if I want my color to be darker or lighter?” A darker version of a color is called a shade. A lighter version of a color is called a tint. If you want a darker shade of a color, add black. If you want a lighter tint of a color, add white. For example, If you want a blood red you would add a little black to make it darker. If you want pink, you add a little white to your red. Always use small amounts of black or white since they are such strong shades. You can always add more later but you can’t take it out. (Side note: Black and white are a shade or tint not colors. Brown is argued over since it is a combination of all colors some believe it’s a color but others call it a shade. Just so you know, for future posts, I refer to it as a shade.)

“Ok but how do i know what colors look good together?” There are a few ways to match color. A common color combination would be complimentary. Complimentary colors are across the color wheel from each other, such as red and green, or purple and yellow.  Another color combo would be analogous, colors that are next to each other on the color wheel such as red, orange, yellow or purple, blue, green. The last is split complementary, use picture above for reference.

Thanks for reading,

-Kabuki

Suplies for pros

A question I am often asked by artists is; “What supplies do I get?”
Well, every artist should be armed with an arsenal of art supplies. For starters you should have a ruler, pencil, sharpener, and eraser. These don’t need to be too fancy but the tools you create your art with should be a bit nicer if you are looking to be more professional in your art.

For starters; let’s talk pencils. Yea a number two pencil or mechanical pencil will get the job done but from what I’ve seen in the art world there are better graphites out there. Might I suggest a set of graphic medium pencils? My set includes a 6B, 5B, 4B, 3B, 2B, B, HB, F, 2H, 3H, and 4H. (Most people don’t use F so don’t freak if your set doesn’t have it.) “why do I need so many pencils?” Well you don’t NEED them but they are suggested over number two’s. Each pencil has a different hardness in graphite giving every pencil a unique shade. Instead of pressing harder to make a darker line you simply switch to a different graphite, this helps make your art look a bit cleaner. These pencils can be pretty inexpensive and easy to get your hands on, any art supply place should have a set. So, why not give it a try?

“Ok so now I know what grays to get but what about the colorful stuff?” As far as coloring in your work goes there are several ways to do it. Mediums I am familiar with and will chat about include; computer art, colored pencil, and markers. If you’d like information on paints please leave a comment so I can get some info for you.

Starting with computer art; my very artistic friend, Cat, and I would both recommend a Wacom tablet. These tablets are very easy to use and paired with a good app can help you create amazing digital art. Unfortunately I can’t give you a price since our tablets were passed down to us by our dads but they might be a bit pricy. Be sure it’s what you want to do before spending the money.

Colored pencils; recommended by my art teacher, Cat, and myself, I give you prisma colors. They’re a bit pricy unless you get them on sale but they’re great pencils. Known for their ability to blend they help to create beautiful works of art. I, sadly, haven’t had the chance to use them myself but I’ve seen the art created with them and it is outstanding. Unlike Roseart, Crayola, or other cheap brands these create smooth clean color instead of grain waxy stuff. I am stuck with Crayola and Roseart, don’t buy them. Period.

Finally I will end with markers; the number one marker recommended by professional artists would have to be Copics. These incredible things are very pricy but help to create clean beautiful art. These markers are know for their ability to blend (same reason people like prisma colored pencils, it’s all about the blend). Look up any professional artist on Yourube or other social media sites and you’ll probably find a lot of them use copic or would like to buy some. If you have the money, get them.

That’s all for this post, if you want other tips/have something specific in mind feel free to comment. Thanks for reading!
-Kabuki

How do You Art?

Often times people will look over my shoulder and say, “Wow, I wish I could draw like that. Are you in an art class? How did you learn to draw like that?” Well there’s a few things you should know. One; you CAN draw ‘like that’ just not yet. Sadly you can’t become a good artist over night. Two; yes, I am in an art class. If you can get to an art class, in or out of school, I would suggest doing so. If you can’t it’s not the end of the world, just keep drawing at home. Finally three; I learned through years of trial and error, through many criticisms, good and bad, I’ve had plenty of people laugh and shame my art but the point is to keep trying. If you don’t try to be an artist then you wont be.

Where do I start?
Almost everyone draws as a child, as we get older we either don’t have time or loose interest in drawing. When you get older you decide you want to start drawing but realize the last thing you learned to draw was a stick figure. At this point most people give up and say its hopeless. IT’S ONLY HOPELESS IF YOU GIVE UP! So lets start with the stick figure. No its not an amazing piece of art you’re proud of but why? Why are stick figures not visually appealing? Because they have no curves. they’re just five lines and a circle. Look at a person near you, your mom, brother, friend, a stranger. Are they made of five lines and a circle? No! People have NO straight lines. Stick figures are the most in-accurate depiction of a human being because of that one simple fact. So lesson learned: No straight lines!. Ok, fine….so how do you draw something that’s not a stick figure? My biggest tip for ANY artist, new or experienced, is anatomy. learn to draw the skeleton. “The skeleton, why?” Why you ask? Because learning about your skeleton teaches you where joints are and how joints move. Your bones are about the straightest part of your body so unless you’re a professional cartoon artist, no noodle arms! the only place your arms and legs move is where there is a joint. “How am I supposed to know where all these joints are?” By looking at a skeleton. any place two bones meet is a joint. once you draw your people with meat and skin on them their movements will look more realistic because you know where the joints are. “I know the joints now…but the arm still looks funny…” Well it maybe one of two main problems. proportion or muscle placement. take a look at muscle anatomy and check to make sure you aren’t putting muscle in the wrong place. Also take a look at some pictures of different types of people, make a sure your character is proportional.

Hope this helped! More to come.

-Kabuki