[How to choose colors] Lectures on character coloring scheme

Today’s tutorial is for those who want to create their own original characters, but have trouble choosing colors.
Learn how to color your character with a clear explanation.

Now let’s think about the color scheme for your characters!

Specify the main color

It’s important to choose a primary color first.
This is because the main color will make it easier to convey the nature of your character and to choose other colors as well.
For example, imagine that your character is on the Power Ranger team. What color is your character?

Now begin to choose the color that will be the main theme for your character!

The chosen main color will be the hair color this time.

Depending on the colors, your imagination about the nature of the characters will vary, won’t it?
Let’s use red as the main color this time.

Use the color circle to compare colors

The single word “red” covers a lot of reds.

 

“Cheerful red”, “orangey red”, etc.
Now let’s look at the color wheel (hue circle).

The difference in position of the white circle creates the difference in color.

Comparing several colors makes it easier to choose colors. Try to decide on colors while respecting your preference.

 

3 recommended ways to create a color scheme

There are several ways to set the color scheme.
Today we’re going to learn the ones that are easiest for beginners to follow.

Unify the saturation value for each color

At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be any connection between the colors, but if you look at the color wheel for each color, you’ll see that although the colors have different hues, they have the same low saturation.

See? All the colors are selected from the left side, which has a lower saturation.

Make the difference in hue to impress with contrast

This is a color scheme with a strong contrast of  pale yellow and deep blue.

 

Use unified colors

This is a color scheme of similar colors (close together on the color wheel).
Only the red has a high saturation to make it stand out.

For the accent color, using yellow-green, which is the approximate color of red or yellow, will maintain the sense of unity of red and yellow. Using complementary blues will reduce the sense.

Before coloring your characters, it is important to compare the colors you want to use to check the color balance.
Use a blank space or a new canvas to compare colors.

 

How to study color balance

If you think you are not good at choosing colors with a good balance, observe the color scheme of your favorite characters.

Use the eyedropper tool and extract the colors to compare. You might discover something you never expected.

 

Conclusion: find your own color preference for your characters

The possibilities for color combinations are endless. So it’s natural for you to find it difficult.
If you go to a bookstore, you’ll see that there are a lot of books on color schemes.

I love reading those books of color scheme samples and have bought many.
There are a lot of combinations I’ve never thought of. I hope you’ll try some if you’re interested.

Today we learned the color scheme for your characters.

• Specify the main color
• Make the saturation the same for each color
• Make the difference in hue to create contrast
• Use approximate colors to create a sense of unity
• Observe your favorite characters to study color balance

 

I hope you’ll find the ideal color scheme for your character!

(Text・Illustrations/つかさん)
Twitter:https://twitter.com/Tsukasan0823