Color Theory

[palehorse]

I haven't been here in awhile so I'm not sure if this has come up here before, but I thought I'd point it out in case it hasn't.

Some of you might be familiar with the old Famous Artists Course; even though it was established back in the late 40's, even was a kid in the 70's I'd still see the "Draw this cartoon character and send it in to us to see if you're Famous Artists material!" in the back of comic books and such. Folks who actually DID sign up for the correspondence course were in for a real treat. The FAC was one of the finest all around collections of art instructional material ever produced. I managed to get my hands on a pretty cherry set of the 1967 edition of the manuals on eBay, and I have to say they were one of the best investments I've ever made.

Well, a couple of months ago over at the Comicrazys.com blog, they occasionally post material from the old FAC; I believe the edition they have is just a couple of years more current than the one I have. Awhile back they posted up the entire chapter on color theory, and it's pretty easily one of the best, most concise treatments of the subject I've ever seen. Seriously, I would have KILLED to have this back when I was in college.

If you're really serious about picking better colors for your maps and you haven't made a study of color theory or just want a quick refresher, I heartily recommend reading it.

[guyanonymous]

Thanks! What an interesting collection of material to look through...

[Midgardsormr]

Fantastic; thank you! Rep to you.

[Lathorien]

Thank You

[ravells]

Wonderful...thank you! I shall read with interest. Hopefully they'll start to publish all the other chapters too!

[palehorse]

Wonderful...thank you! I shall read with interest. Hopefully they'll start to publish all the other chapters too!

Well, there a lot more over at the Seven Camels blog; he's a former Disney animator. He posted chapters on composition, life drawing, and drawing folds and drapery. Reading those are what inspired me to track down my own copy of the FAC!

[palehorse]

And now it probably seems like I'm harping on people's color choices over in the Finished Maps section! Honestly, though, there are some really amazing maps on display here, and I think the one big thing keeping a lot of the good ones from being great are the same things that artists have been struggling with for centuries: picking the right colors!

And the real kick in the butt is, color theory is one of those things that can just completely throw you until you get that "light bulb over the head" moment and it all clicks. And even THEN it can still be a struggle!

So hopefully, if anyone thinks I'm harping on them about it, I hope they know they're in very good company, because, like I said, it's something almost every artist struggles with!

[Novaya]

Oh lordy thats extensive. thank you fine sir