tomBitonti
Adventurer
Glad to be of help!
One thing that I've found is that working with artists colors is not the same as working with the paint lines, say, from Valejo, Reaper, Iron Kingdoms, or Games Workshop. Those paint lines are balanced for hue, value, and saturation, as well as for viscosity and opacity. Artists colors are closer to raw pigments, which is great for an artist, since if gives you the highest color saturation, but it means you have to mix and balance the paints yourself. I've done a bit of painting using Liquitex acrylics, and discovered early on that making the colors work is a challenge (and gave me a much better appreciation of the skill and art that goes into using color well). Its a fun space to learn about and explore, but definitely one which needs to be learned to use well. I also learned the difference between how an artist approaches color and how a physicist approaches color. Feynman has a chapter on the physics of color and color perception, but that doesn't really help you to use color better.
It would be nice if a studied and practiced artist could comment on the fundamentals of practically using color, and on common mistakes and trouble areas. For example, varying more than one of hue, value, or saturation, is hard. Also, a lot is conveyed strictly by value (light and dark), with hue (color) a layer added on top of that. (I think that is a part of why washes and dry-brushing work so well.)
Thx!
TomB
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