Pixel Joint Forum: Color selection (i.e: palette) help

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Mr Special
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Joined: 20 December 2017
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Posts: 106

Topic: Color selection (i.e: palette) help
Posted: 17 August 2011 at 1:35pm

I was wondering: what is a good method for choosing colors in a piece? I think some people use color ramps that they've made themselves. I've seen some really stylistic pieces in the gallery that are extremely well developed in their palette. It's almost as if the palette 'sings' on its own.

In my opinion, the color can really make or break a piece. At least, that's how it seems to me; correct me if I'm wrong. And I know this is, at least somewhat, opinionated. Everyone has their own style of color selection I suppose. But, I want to be able to have very bright and vivid colors in any piece I'll make. Unless there are restrictions of course.

Strong colors really appeal to me in pixel art, especially in video games, or any art medium for that matter.

Oh, and another question I had: is it considered plagiarizing to use another pixel artist's color ramp? I read the interview with Syosa, and his color ramp was astonishing! But, I wasn't sure if it was frowned upon to use another artist's color ramp.

Anyways, sorry for this ramble. I would like to know these things though. I think color selection is a big weakness I have, and I really want to improve. Thanks for reading, and please answer any of these questions if you can.

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jalonso
Admiral
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Joined: 29 November 2022
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Posts: 13537

Posted: 17 August 2011 at 4:48pm

Originally posted by Mr Special

I was wondering: what is a good method for choosing colors in a piece? I think some people use color ramps that they've made themselves. I've seen some really stylistic pieces in the gallery that are extremely well developed in their palette. It's almost as if the palette 'sings' on its own.

There is no method and achieving this is often the most difficult thing to teach yourself and understand. Just play with colors and think organically and how one color affects the other when next to it. This seems to be far more crucial in pixeart than other mediums so practicing this while pixelling helps you all around. See other people's work and notice how colors are used, especially hue and luminosity more-so than the actual ramp shade.

Originally posted by Mr Special

In my opinion, the color can really make or break a piece. At least, that's how it seems to me; correct me if I'm wrong. And I know this is, at least somewhat, opinionated. Everyone has their own style of color selection I suppose. But, I want to be able to have very bright and vivid colors in any piece I'll make. Unless there are restrictions of course.Strong colors really appeal to me in pixel art, especially in video games, or any art medium for that matter.

You just have to experiment and see what works for you. Its a process that can take a while. I've been at it for over several decades and still have loads to learn (colors not pixelart).

Originally posted by Mr Special

Oh, and another question I had: is it considered plagiarizing to use another pixel artist's color ramp? I read the interview with Syosa, and his color ramp was astonishing! But, I wasn't sure if it was frowned upon to use another artist's color ramp.

No, it is OK to do this and learn from it. You always give credit to the person. When using other's palettes try to understand them and not just use them or you'll get a bad habit that's really hard to break.

Originally posted by Mr Special

Anyways, sorry for this ramble. I would like to know these things though. I think color selection is a big weakness I have, and I really want to improve. Thanks for reading, and please answer any of these questions if you can.

Questions is what the PJ forum is for.

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Mr Special
Commander

Joined: 20 December 2017
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 106

Posted: 17 August 2011 at 5:43pm

Thank you for answering my questions jalonso, you're always helpful. You mentioned that it is okay to use another artist's palette as long as credit is given. That leads me to another question. Is it a good idea to develop a kind of universal color palette of my own? One you could use as a base for many, if not all, pieces? If so, I would like to learn more about it.

I'm always trying to observe color in the world around me, how it behaves under different conditions. I simply love color! I'll be experimenting around with pulling the most vibrant colors I can. However, I use GraphicsGale, and the default color palette seems kinda meh to me. I'm never good at coming up with my own colors for things. Any tips on that would be helpful (although I'm not sure there really are any tips that could be given

). It seems like I tend to have washed-out looking colors a lot of times

Oh, and hue. I guess I sort of know what hue is (the value of the color?) Luminosity, I admit I have no clue what you are referring to with pixel art.

Thanks again for being so helpful!

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tanuki
Commander

Joined: 01 April 2014
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 333

Posted: 17 August 2011 at 7:09pm

I wouldn't say that you can use one palette as a base for all pieces ever because it'd be too limiting. Maybe for all pieces within a unified body of work.

It's a very good idea to develop your own personal palette though, if not several of them, because of two reasons. First the process of doing so will be useful for learning about how colors interact and how to treat colors as individuals that each have a purpose. Second when you want to make something but don't have the time to come up with a palette as well or are more focused on learning about the placement of colors than the selection of them then you'll already have one or more palettes ready to go.

Color is usually considered a combination of three things-

Hue
Basically where on the rainbow a color is, calculated on a 360° circle that goes from red to orange to yellow to green to blue to purple and back to red.

Saturation
How intense a color is. Black, white, and grey have 0% saturation. Colors tend to be more natural, easier to look at, and easier to harmonize with each other when saturation is kept down a bit.

Value
How light or dark something is. Black is 0%, white is 100%, and everything else is somewhere between the two. It's often times good to have a range of values in your palette. If the values of all the colors are too close things tend to look washed out. This is also called "tone" or "luminosity".

Edited by tanuki - 17 August 2011 at 7:10pm

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jalonso
Admiral
Admiral

Joined: 29 November 2022
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 13537

Posted: 17 August 2011 at 7:58pm

Color is as much a science as it is an art. When it comes down to it...if it works and looks good its fine.

I don't ever use the same palette but almost always start out with my set of 'neutralizers' and branch out from them. I do make organic palettes not linear or ramp palettes.

Jinn's claims to always start with a set palette and expand from it. See his feature on the front page for details on that.

I tried finding a real messy thread I started called' Color: I don't get it' or something like that where I attempt to analyze others colors and all the variations people use. Search for it its in the Resource Section (ya, I'm being lazy...Daily Show and Colbert coming up in 5 min.)

To study colors and hue interactions I always suggest looking at adarias' gallery. He also has a feature that touches on interesting points.

*Do note that EVERYONE struggles with color regardless of skill level or experience. It just is...art has no formulas.

Edited by jalonso - 17 August 2011 at 8:00pm

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Author	Message
Mr Special Commander Joined: 20 December 2017 Online Status: Offline Posts: 106	Topic: Color selection (i.e: palette) help Posted: 17 August 2011 at 1:35pm
	I was wondering: what is a good method for choosing colors in a piece? I think some people use color ramps that they've made themselves. I've seen some really stylistic pieces in the gallery that are extremely well developed in their palette. It's almost as if the palette 'sings' on its own. In my opinion, the color can really make or break a piece. At least, that's how it seems to me; correct me if I'm wrong. And I know this is, at least somewhat, opinionated. Everyone has their own style of color selection I suppose. But, I want to be able to have very bright and vivid colors in any piece I'll make. Unless there are restrictions of course. Strong colors really appeal to me in pixel art, especially in video games, or any art medium for that matter. Oh, and another question I had: is it considered plagiarizing to use another pixel artist's color ramp? I read the interview with Syosa, and his color ramp was astonishing! But, I wasn't sure if it was frowned upon to use another artist's color ramp. Anyways, sorry for this ramble. I would like to know these things though. I think color selection is a big weakness I have, and I really want to improve. Thanks for reading, and please answer any of these questions if you can.
	IP Logged

jalonso Admiral Joined: 29 November 2022 Online Status: Offline Posts: 13537	Posted: 17 August 2011 at 4:48pm
	*Originally posted by Mr Special* I was wondering: what is a good method for choosing colors in a piece? I think some people use color ramps that they've made themselves. I've seen some really stylistic pieces in the gallery that are extremely well developed in their palette. It's almost as if the palette 'sings' on its own. There is no method and achieving this is often the most difficult thing to teach yourself and understand. Just play with colors and think organically and how one color affects the other when next to it. This seems to be far more crucial in pixeart than other mediums so practicing this while pixelling helps you all around. See other people's work and notice how colors are used, especially hue and luminosity more-so than the actual ramp shade. *Originally posted by Mr Special* In my opinion, the color can really make or break a piece. At least, that's how it seems to me; correct me if I'm wrong. And I know this is, at least somewhat, opinionated. Everyone has their own style of color selection I suppose. But, I want to be able to have very bright and vivid colors in any piece I'll make. Unless there are restrictions of course.Strong colors really appeal to me in pixel art, especially in video games, or any art medium for that matter. You just have to experiment and see what works for you. Its a process that can take a while. I've been at it for over several decades and still have loads to learn (colors not pixelart). *Originally posted by Mr Special* Oh, and another question I had: is it considered plagiarizing to use another pixel artist's color ramp? I read the interview with Syosa, and his color ramp was astonishing! But, I wasn't sure if it was frowned upon to use another artist's color ramp. No, it is OK to do this and learn from it. You always give credit to the person. When using other's palettes try to understand them and not just use them or you'll get a bad habit that's really hard to break. *Originally posted by Mr Special* Anyways, sorry for this ramble. I would like to know these things though. I think color selection is a big weakness I have, and I really want to improve. Thanks for reading, and please answer any of these questions if you can. Questions is what the PJ forum is for.
	PJs FAQ <•> Sticky Reads
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Mr Special Commander Joined: 20 December 2017 Online Status: Offline Posts: 106	Posted: 17 August 2011 at 5:43pm
	Thank you for answering my questions jalonso, you're always helpful. You mentioned that it is okay to use another artist's palette as long as credit is given. That leads me to another question. Is it a good idea to develop a kind of universal color palette of my own? One you could use as a base for many, if not all, pieces? If so, I would like to learn more about it. I'm always trying to observe color in the world around me, how it behaves under different conditions. I simply love color! I'll be experimenting around with pulling the most vibrant colors I can. However, I use GraphicsGale, and the default color palette seems kinda meh to me. I'm never good at coming up with my own colors for things. Any tips on that would be helpful (although I'm not sure there really are any tips that could be given ). It seems like I tend to have washed-out looking colors a lot of times Oh, and hue. I guess I sort of know what hue is (the value of the color?) Luminosity, I admit I have no clue what you are referring to with pixel art. Thanks again for being so helpful!
	IP Logged

tanuki Commander Joined: 01 April 2014 Online Status: Offline Posts: 333	Posted: 17 August 2011 at 7:09pm
	I wouldn't say that you can use one palette as a base for all pieces ever because it'd be too limiting. Maybe for all pieces within a unified body of work. It's a very good idea to develop your own personal palette though, if not several of them, because of two reasons. First the process of doing so will be useful for learning about how colors interact and how to treat colors as individuals that each have a purpose. Second when you want to make something but don't have the time to come up with a palette as well or are more focused on learning about the placement of colors than the selection of them then you'll already have one or more palettes ready to go. Color is usually considered a combination of three things- Hue Basically where on the rainbow a color is, calculated on a 360° circle that goes from red to orange to yellow to green to blue to purple and back to red. Saturation How intense a color is. Black, white, and grey have 0% saturation. Colors tend to be more natural, easier to look at, and easier to harmonize with each other when saturation is kept down a bit. Value How light or dark something is. Black is 0%, white is 100%, and everything else is somewhere between the two. It's often times good to have a range of values in your palette. If the values of all the colors are too close things tend to look washed out. This is also called "tone" or "luminosity". Edited by tanuki - 17 August 2011 at 7:10pm
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jalonso Admiral Joined: 29 November 2022 Online Status: Offline Posts: 13537	Posted: 17 August 2011 at 7:58pm
	Color is as much a science as it is an art. When it comes down to it...if it works and looks good its fine. I don't ever use the same palette but almost always start out with my set of 'neutralizers' and branch out from them. I do make organic palettes not linear or ramp palettes. Jinn's claims to always start with a set palette and expand from it. See his feature on the front page for details on that. I tried finding a real messy thread I started called' Color: I don't get it' or something like that where I attempt to analyze others colors and all the variations people use. Search for it its in the Resource Section (ya, I'm being lazy...Daily Show and Colbert coming up in 5 min.) To study colors and hue interactions I always suggest looking at adarias' gallery. He also has a feature that touches on interesting points. *Do note that EVERYONE struggles with color regardless of skill level or experience. It just is...art has no formulas. Edited by jalonso - 17 August 2011 at 8:00pm
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