---PART I: Analyzing Color in a Painting

  • select a painting and study the artist's usage of color
  • Before you get started, ask yourself:
    • Where are the lightest values in the painting? Where are the darkest?
      • lightest: concrete, walkway, yellow sky
      • darkest: top sky, bottom right ground
    • Where are the dull, neutral colors? Where are the intense, saturated colors?
      • dull/neutral: buildings
      • intense/saturated: orange walkway, yellow sky
    • Did the artist use complementary colors? Where?
      • Red ground vs green sky
      • Orange walkway vs blue water
    • Where are the warm colors/cool colors?
      • cool: sky, far building
      • warm: ground, front building
    • Which colors are expanding forward? Which colors are shifting back?
      • forward: front building, walkway
      • backward: far building, train
    • Which colors are repeated to create visual rhythm?
      • dark browns/grays
    • Did the artist use a natural light source? Where is the light coming from? Where are the highlights/shadows?
      • sorta? from right
  • "Paint" the Painting
    • use Photoshop to abstract the painting down to its main areas of color
    • To start out, create a new layer over the original painting and fill with an overall color to act as a base color.
    • On another layer, add the lightest areas of color. Work with basic, abstract shapes. Add the large shapes and even the smallest of shapes. At this point, you'll start to get a sense of the composition from just the light values
    • Next, add the darkest shapes of color
    • Finally, incorporate the middle value colors.
    • Continue until you have defined all the major areas of color.
    • Save a PSD file, Then go to File > Save for Web & Devices to save as a JPEG with a Quality level of about 80.
jun 3 2011 ∞
jun 21 2011 +