Colour Theory for Mini Painters: Colour Wheels

[@GRGMiniatures]

So I realised that when I said 'I was recently asked to do 5 Ents for the Middle Earth war game by GW', it might sound like GW asked me to do the Ents. Alas, that is super duper not the case. Of course, if GW are watching and they do want me to paint something...well, ya know, I could probably do that :P

[@mechanicalpaul]

I'm sure that invitation is only days away!

[@GRGMiniatures]

@@mechanicalpaul Ya here that, James Workshop? Days away!

[@Splodgenessabounds-j8o]

This is one of the best damn hobby channels out there. No faff, just pure learning brilliance. Thanks for all the great content.

[@GRGMiniatures]

Thanks so much, Nick. That really means a lot to hear 😁

[@packe93]

I don't know what's going on, but I need more of it.

[@GRGMiniatures]

Oh it's comin' :D

[@packe93]

@@GRGMiniatures Great, then I can be even more confused. :D

[@nachel4870]

I woud like some use on the minitur of thes theories

[@mauvrion_fries]

Had to go back and watch the painting again, I realized by the end I was too distracted by the theory and didn't see how you got those great colors. More color theory please!

[@GRGMiniatures]

Well, at least it was a good distraction! More theory on the way!

[@Nick_Kliagonis]

please make a video with deeper analysis in color theory

[@GRGMiniatures]

Don't worry, Nikos, I will!

[@TheAlmightyfoon]

Hands down one of the best mini channels I've found for stuff like this. You and Marco from NJM have really upped my mini game.

[@GRGMiniatures]

Oh man,to be put in same sentence as Dr Frisoni is equal parts pleasing and daunting! I'll endeavour to live up to those standards! 😀

[@GoobertownHobbies]

I love this! This is the first video I've seen from you (based on a recommendation) and now I'm gonna be checking out your library! This kind of stuff is fascinating to me. It's fun to think about how cone receptors fit into this, as well as the absorption spectra of various pigments... and most fun of all, why do we perceive red right next to violet! :-)

[@GRGMiniatures]

Hey man, very pleased to see the algorithm deigned to put my effort in front of your rods and cones. The rabbit hole on colour perception is *deep* and very, very windy. I won't pretend to be anything but an enthusiastic amateur, but bits and pieces of my work have let me look in on the Big Boy science and it's fascinating.

[@paintertovey]

More please! And more on gamuts! The limited palettes turned out great and made for an interesting series.

[@GRGMiniatures]

Thanks so much Ross! More limitless mini challenges planned for a little later this year! 😀

[@Zambies]

I love the kitbashing on these! color theory is a fun deep rabbit hole to dive into.

[@SweenyMarc]

Great stuff as always. These are the sort of videos I feel make me a better painter - or at least make me understand how to become one anyway! Your understanding underpainting series was what got me hooked on the channel so I'm all for more deep dive theory vids but sometimes just seeing boring grey minis get a good paint job is enough so don't feel you have to always go high concept. If you are looking for ideas though, some large terrain painting would be something I'd be interested in. How to get striking lighting and environmental effects when you're painting with broader strokes. (Figuratively and literally!)

[@GRGMiniatures]

Thanks for all the support, SweenyMarc! And agreed -- terrain has been on the list for ages, but I've just never gotten to it

[@Ryan_MrLax]

I would really like to see more into this. I liked how the video did not try to bury me in information at the same time brought a new and old topic to think about. I would really like to learn more about the color wheel and how to use it short bits at a time.

[@GRGMiniatures]

Great to hear, Ryan! I've had a great response so far,so I will definitely be extending the series!

[@mattpeterson7603]

Fantastic work as ever! You do a great job of articulating concepts that I generally only grasp on an intuitive level

[@GRGMiniatures]

Thank you, Matt!

[@lu3tz]

Fantastic video! My mind was blown when I watched a video from a traditional artist, saying that basically each pure pigmented color can be a primary color in your color system, as it's pretty hard to match the exact color of a pure pigment by mixing two other pigments together. Which is an interesting thought :)

[@GRGMiniatures]

Really glad you liked it! Yes, making your own gamuts and 'wheels' is a super fun way to explore things, and it's important to remember pigments aren't some scientifically perfect 'colour'. We looked a little bit at limited palettes and gamuts last year, have a look if you're interested! :) kzbin.info/aero/PLcYV_XHm-XLlfj4aGZSczv85A6R8TRMzu

[@GeertVanLaethem]

Great introduction. I hope you made all the next parts.

[@GRGMiniatures]

Not yet! But soon(ish)...!

[@papaours4867]

This video was amazing. I did know little about the colour theory, thank you for all of this information.

[@GRGMiniatures]

Thank you!

[@Slurgical_3D_Terrain_Channel]

Nicely done! Thank you for making this.

[@GRGMiniatures]

My pleasure!

[@ToffeeTroll]

I can say I did not know all until this vid. Thanks for that 🎉

[@GRGMiniatures]

Happy to help! 😄

[@Leofilmperson]

It just so happens that r, g, and y represent the main frequencies exciting the cone cells on the human retina, which is why that particular colour wheel works so well as a composition tool. It's neither outdated nor less scientific, it just focusses on the reality of the human eye rather than raw physics.

[@GRGMiniatures]

Hi Leo! My understanding is that the cones in the eyes peak at around (deepish) Blue, (lime-y) Green, and (orange-y) Yellow, (for S, M, and L receptors respectively), and that the L receptor in particular covers a wide bandwidth, reaching out into the red (but at any rate, not the RBY of the traditional colour wheel). This 'raw data' is filtered into three 'units' of information (opponent process theory). Those have traditionally been 'red-green', 'yellow-blue', and 'black-white', but 'recently' a revision to 'magenta-green', 'cyan-red' and 'black-white' has been proposed, since it aligns a bit better with measured results in tests. In the end, though, the important thing is to use the tool that makes most sense to you. The science-y bit can only get us so far -- actually painting stuff is what will get results! :)

[@Leofilmperson]

You're right. Both M and L cover a great range of frequency with their main frequencies being very close to each other, and the bell curves overlapping almost entirely. L is the only one picking up weak to moderate red, and S picks up nothing but blue and some teal. The cone information, visualized on the unlooped band, is actually more useful when picking highlight colours. Red and green both lean into yellow, blue can lean into teal. Purple and magenta both only happen after the loop, so I'm still undecided there. Further testing is required.

[@maneco104]

Need more of this subject

[@GRGMiniatures]

On its way :)

[@sethrinker9944]

I love is kind of pure theory video. Thank you!

[@GRGMiniatures]

No problem. More to come! :)

[@Gumlass1]

I really enjoy these theory heavy videos!

[@GRGMiniatures]

Glad you like them!

[@valianthobbies]

I love the theory stuff.

[@GRGMiniatures]

Thank you!

[@jjcouch5]

I’d love to hear more about colour theory! But my adhd caused me to watch you paint instead of listening lmao! So I watched it twice! :)

[@GRGMiniatures]

Haha, well the algorithm will like that at least! More colour theory coming very soon... :)

[@howardcoates6985]

The Treants look really good too!

[@GRGMiniatures]

Thanks, Howard!

[@yegorkhorushko479]

Yeah, would like to see the next parts of color theory, especially practical side. This has been touched, but i still hope to know somth extra🙃

[@GRGMiniatures]

Really pleased you enjoyed! Stay tuned for more :)

[@Gilbragol]

Please do educate us further. As always fantastic content.

[@GRGMiniatures]

And always fantastic support from my friends :D

[@triisgaard2699]

Yes, start talking about that. Been trying to wrap my head around why Purple and Yellow aren't complementary.

[@samhoban2509]

Amazing paint jobs

[@GRGMiniatures]

Thanks Sam!

[@mattcooper1664]

I find this kind of pure theory video interesting

[@johnmarshall3175]

Ove this sort of content. I really want to understand how different uncoat / primer colours impact the top coats and how best to sect the primer colours for best effect and the theory behind it. Ie some artists may recommend basecoating in purple if painting green and sketching in pinks and yellows are lighter tones to give a highlight to the purple shade as purple is the opportise to green (i guess). Then paining green over this base supposedly gives a colour that has some lighter and darker tones (if applied translucent I guess) to give some guide on the areas for shading. Is this right or am I barking up the wrong tree?

[@deltapi8859]

This was an excellent video. Especially the part about the history. Would you then say that picking R, G, B + C, Y, M + Black and White as the 8 basis to mix colors a solid way? I'm picking rgb+cym, because I watched a video that stated that some colors could end up dull when mixed just with 3 colors. Especially green is a color that the eye perceives better than the other colors, it shouldn't be mixed. I'm just surprised why paint companies don't release a color wheel with ratios for their colors (or maybe it's a financial thing). Your video makes me think about getting some really high pigmented brand and mixing the color 8 colors in between and see where I land on the color wheel. Maybe by putting strokes on a piece of paper and scanning it back to see where they land on the wheel.

[@GRGMiniatures]

Thank you! You should always ask yourself what you're trying to achieve. Being able to freely mix colours and get the results you expect is skill every painter should try and develop, and using any kind of limited palette will grow your skill. CMY (plus RGB) should give you the biggest gamut to work with, and pure pigment paints will get you the most consistent results. That said, ultimately the goal is a well painted mini, and for that, often just using the premixed colour of your choice (at least for the base layers) is efficient and consistent! At any rate, good, single pigment paints of (roughly) cyan, magenta, yellow, red, green, and blue are an excellent thing to have in your collection, and really fun to play with while exploring colour theory and mixing!

[@citizenrico42]

It only reads as magenta because that's how we are taught. I recall seeing a video about a tribe that had no word for blue, but several for green (I think)

[@Evershifting]

Practical application of colorwheel sounds pretty interesting =]

[@GRGMiniatures]

More to come!

[@howardcoates6985]

more colour wheel and colour theory yes please

[@GRGMiniatures]

:D Will do!

[@ryanxyz6033]

Excellent explanation!

[@GRGMiniatures]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks!

[@Kennetten]

Good stuff!

[@GRGMiniatures]

Thanks!

[@HQDungeons]

an interesting topic, so far i didn't know that there are two. I'll try to work with RPG.

[@corseeis482]

I'd love some more videos of colors theory

[@savvabaskakov5704]

awesome video

[@jefferymartens6303]

Delightful

[@GRGMiniatures]

:D Thanks!

[@Chris-lr2qb]

Make me brainier please.

[@GRGMiniatures]

🤣 I'm sure you're more than brainy enough. But I will fill your brain with colourful info! 😁

[@RealJahzir]

❤💚💙

[@GRGMiniatures]

😁

[@necaacen]

im 41, all my art teachers at school and college tought RBY, but it IS wrong, you cant make all the greens, you cant make all the pinks, you can make red from magenta and yellow, theyre just not the primary colours. its fundamentally wrong and it should go in the bin because we are teaching people wrong information. people can paint with those 3 colours, they can paint with a zorn selection, they can pick whatever colours they want. but those are not primary colours so we shouldnt refer to them as such.