Colour Research # I - Colour Chart

Colour Harmony is something I really want to focus on. The visual language portrayed through colour is as important for me as any story. A few primaries and some essential secondaries are needed to bring out a colour chart for any piece of art work. I have already defined earlier this year the effects of colour on the emotions. I will not blabber more about it. Instead Ill try and pin point the different aspects of colour that will be relevant to my story.

All colour depends on light, therefore, I must choose the light according the location of my story. If I decide to install it in a sub-Saharan Africa, then I will have to consider colours under a strong and bright light. If I decide to set it in Paris, the light will be drastically different. The time of day also influences the spectrum.

My main emotional goal is happiness. It is a joyful and mischievous story therefore I wish there to be light. Let there be light! A sunny day implies a stronger amount of desaturated light. Washed out beiges, blues and greens could serve as a basic. The beige spectrum is one I enjoy a lot and it should consequently be present on a wider range than the other colours. Red as a spot colour is extremely useful to portray moments of panic or strong action.

I started some colour sketches to play around in finding the right “colour map”. Not meant to represent anything, they are simply there as a variety of colour values and tonalities. I stayed in a similar chromatic range, as it is better to start by the base. Later on, spot and differential colours will be added to complement and bring out the whole piece.

          Staying in a brownish hue of colours, from oranges to browns, passing through reds and beige, I added a slight impression of desaturated light blue, which I think fits rather well. This anticipates the association of earth and sky in the final storyboard. On a technical note, I have used the Dual Brush setting on the chalk brush with a slight spread, which gives that interesting texture look. This is interesting as it does not involve using complicated and rather limited texture brushes. 

The second piece is a highly burnt study of fiery colours. As I may intend to use fire in the story, I reckoned that finding some tonal values for that element should be useful later on. Hints of green found their way into the piece, and it being the complement of red, it creates a strong simultaneous contrast in some instances.

More studies will follow as I go through different colour combinations, and as I get closer to actually starting work on the actual story board. These studies will also be used for the character designs, as the different colours should also represent their inner temperament.