Batman has a personal utility belt to fight crime. Well artists also have their own belts, used to create art of the same calibre as Batman’s crime fighting greatness. Yeah, okay I just compared a butt-kicking hero to people with paintbrushes. But that’s besides the point. What I’m trying to get at is that to be an artist, it isn’t about having the natural ability to create masterpieces (as much as it may seem so), all it takes is knowledge. You just have to know what works with what to make truly spectacular works of art. And hey, if you can’t draw a stick figure to save your life, then I have two words for you. Abstract art. Honestly, everyone has the capabilities to be an artist, and by simply familiarizing with the way colours interact with each other, that’s enough to get anyone started.
Take a look at the above diagram that’s a simple colour wheel with several layers of tones, hues and intensity. That’s the core basics of colour theory, simply knowing what colours exist. But it’s the process of learning how to use these colours together coherently that produces an artist.
So how does one learn the theory behind all of this? Fortunately an artist named Melanie, better known as purplekecleon on DeviantArt, has taken the time to spread this knowledge. If you’re an aspiring artist, or just want to gather more knowledge about colour, take a look at this great tutorial. It uses Flash so if that doesn’t not work for you then give this link a click and use good old fashioned scrolling. I should mention, this tutorial incorporates everybody’s favourite Pokemon. So even if you’re not exactly an artist, there are some pretty interest renditions of Pikachu and others that you wouldn’t want to miss. Let’s get ready to start your artistic journey, right out of Palette Town. If you understood that joke, I applaud you, for being both a Pokemon fan and an artist at heart.
Please spare a few minutes to look at this, learn how compositions depend greatly on colour, and appreciate colour itself. Take out of it what you can, and make art out of it with what you know.
I leave you with a painting of the Joker, which uses great colour theory to create a piece that would easily grab anyone’s attention. Now all of a sudden my Batman references makes sense.
