Color Temperature

**Saraiva** · November 7th, 2012, 01:14 PM

This is yet another color blind thread.

I have been painting a lot and my instructor has noticed I am always getting the color temperatures wrong. A lot of my work is too cold and a bit dead looking (I can post some stuff if anyone is interested). But the problem is that I don't see it until someone points it out and even then I barely see it. I told my instructor I was colorblind and he has been really patient with me, which has been great, but there are times where he points to two different spots on the model and says "See how this part is much warmer than that one?" and honestly I never really see it.

I was wondering if anyone here has any tips on spotting temperature. Maybe supplementing my studies with a lot of color theory could make up for this? I don't want colorblindness to be an excuse for lousy colors anymore.

**dpaint** · November 7th, 2012, 03:06 PM

Well don't worry about copying, instead try to get the relations between the colors correctly. Plenty of painters that see cooler colors than reality, like Jeremy Lipking

**Elwell** · November 7th, 2012, 05:09 PM

If you really are color blind, then you're at a distinct disadvantage, because yes, you literally won't see the color distinctions that other people do. So, first question, have you actually been diagnosed with a color deficiency? If so, which one, and how severe?

**Medelo** · November 7th, 2012, 05:31 PM

I know a couple people who are red-green colorblind, diagnosed. They ended up doing mainly value paintings or drawings, and if there was any color then it was a systematic method of cataloging colors based on a chart and painting by numbers, literally.

As Elwell says it is important to know what you're dealing with.

**Saraiva** · November 7th, 2012, 07:12 PM

I was diagnosed a really long time ago as red-green and mild blue-purple color blind. I haven't talked to a specialist about it after , maybe I should consider doing that (?). I mean, I see colors, I just have a lot of problems figuring out subtle variations.

**Cola73** · November 7th, 2012, 08:13 PM

Originally Posted by Saraiva

A lot of my work is too cold and a bit dead looking...

The problem is likely in a painting building, here.
Try to spend more time doing underpainting and step away from the easel on a stroke basis, to force painting with a head instead of a hand.
It's easy to get absorbed by the rendering and loose the integrity and eventually the whole painting.
Also, you may want to stick to size 15+ flat brushes for the time being...will help keep your mind of details.