How to colour your Characters

Color theory is a vital part of art and design, highlighting the importance of choosing complementary colors for illustrations. Complementary colors, found opposite each other on the color wheel, create a captivating contrast that brings depth and intensity to your artwork. By using them thoughtfully, you can evoke emotions, set the mood, and make your illustration visually striking. So, embrace the power of complementary colors and bring your creations to life with an irresistible vibrancy.
🎨 ALL MY LINKS ➜ linktr.ee/lucaspeinador
📱 My Favorite Digital Painting Tablets
kit.co/LucasPeinador/my-favor...
📓 My Favorite Instructional Artbooks
kit.co/LucasPeinador/my-favor...
🎨 Fun Digital Artist Tools
kit.co/LucasPeinador/fun-digi...
📕 My Favorite Visual Artbooks
kit.co/LucasPeinador/my-favor...
✏️ My Favorite Traditional Art Tools
kit.co/LucasPeinador/my-favor...
🎥 My KZbin Gear
kit.co/LucasPeinador/my-youtu...
-
📷 Follow me on Instagram
/ lucaspeinador
🎵 Follow me on TikTok
vm.tiktok.com/4oDXa7/
My name is Lucas Peinador, I’m a concept artist and illustrator. I am originally from Costa Rica, now living in Slovenia.
I love painting and teaching about painting. This channel is dedicated to art and creativity, to share the mindset, technique, and tools of an artist working in the Entertainment Industry.
Thank you for passing by :)
DISCLAIMER: This video and description contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. This helps support the channel and allows me to continue to make videos like this. Thanks for your support!
#LucasPeinador #Painting #conceptart #illustration #digitalpainting #procreate

[@isabelladelgado456]

Thank you so much. As someone who struggles making and understanding color theory and how to apply it, this really helps.

[@LucasPeinador]

Glad it was helpful!

[@lauraacevedo1308]

e.e

[@princessthyemis]

I agree! This is SO helpful!!!

[@eldritchcupcakes3195]

Reminder: monochrome palettes with different shades are just as good!

[@RoroSuaris]

Bro took a thirsty mommy and made it a school lesson

[@LucasPeinador]

haha I don't know about that 😅

[@justasmltwngir1732]

:/

[@Deku_in_disguise]

I was your 200th like lmao

[@geeg4315]

mommy?! that’s a supermodel skinny 23 year old with a six pack…

[@CosmiTwink]

@@geeg4315it’s because she’s hot

[@zerareota1560]

Remember that if you don’t want the skin color to be the main color you can cover then with bulky clothes.

[@LucasPeinador]

Interesting 🤔

[@statusuyp]

I'd say try make the skin tone kinda unanimous to the clothes/hair/whatever and not make it too bright/contrasting

[@DreamtaleEnjoyer]

Or any clothes at all lmao

[@st4rrie.]

especially for the purple one

[@-Solidwater]

Or just have other colors that attract your attention more! A natural skin color will never be as memorable as, say, a bright purple jacket, or fluffy pink hair

[@lynloveslipgloss]

I DONT COLOR MY CHARACTERS 🔥🔥

[@LucasPeinador]

haha really? Then they are black and white?

[@lynloveslipgloss]

@@LucasPeinador yeah i just use normal pencil and paper i don’t like coloring my art

[@Muiii__]

Me neither, every time I color my characters they always turn out looking weird. I also like how it looks with just black and white

[@frostybootz]

But you'll never see your character's true colors. 🙁

[@Mapple318]

​@@lynloveslipgloss same, i recently got alcohol markers so i *try* to use color more, but i usually only draw with my pencil and eraser

[@whothehellneedhastag1309]

As an artist, I can confirm that I know nothing about color theory.

[@LucasPeinador]

Hahaha

[@lorelaimorace-kk1xz]

me too

[@zeearts9484]

Same 😄💔!

[@yuihanima]

Then you are a real artist?

[@Maddie_TT7]

@@yuihanimayou don’t have to know color theory to be a “real artist”

[@neeevirus]

Ive noticed from some concept design artists that black, white or neutral colors are utilized to balance out designs, preventing the overall design from being too saturated or to add more interest in the focal areas Someone told me we can optionally use white or black to set off the tone, and work with colors close to the set tone, and add accent colors to make the outfit/design more interesting

[@LucasPeinador]

Interesting 🤔

[@PinkiePirate]

Wait a second….that drawing he showed for like a split second at the end be like 🫣😳🥵

[@LucasPeinador]

haha what?

[@nasgor22]

​@@LucasPeinador The one with the girl on top of a dude with a rocket head

[@PinkiePirate]

.@@LucasPeinador The rocket and the fish globe head or whatever it was and put them in sussy mode. Great art, though.

[@zillasart7222]

I thought no one was gonna talk about it 😊

[@markjcm8968]

SHE WAS RIDING A ROCKET

[@confu5ed_]

Dude literally made me understand Color Theory in a minute than my teacher has in a few weeks 😭

[@LucasPeinador]

haha that makes me v very happy

[@dka4928]

Great information and simple breakdown. Thank you.

[@LucasPeinador]

Glad it was helpful!

[@axeri_]

bro casually drew bangladesh Edit : and also palau hehe

[@Nazmi_Nafio_Esha]

Yes! I was thinking the same😂.

[@LucasPeinador]

haha what? sorry I don't understand

[@Vishnu-jo2wq]

​@@LucasPeinador red dot in dark green , thats like a bangladesh flag

[@LazyArtyz]

​@@LucasPeinador one of those complementary colours. There was on with green rectangle with a red circle in the middle. That the exact flag of Bangladesh

[@lyxx666]

And palau sorta 🇵🇼 though it’s a darker blue in the video than on the flag

[@2fortsmostwanted]

Thanks. The extent of color theory education I received back in high school and even in college classes never explained how to use color theory, so thank you. They just went “something something tertiary, something something complementary, something something relative, that’s you need to know!” Our critiques only went as far as “did you try to use a color scheme in this”

[@LucasPeinador]

Glad it was helpful!

[@roboreverie]

This really helped, especially the 80/20 part, thank you!😊

[@LucasPeinador]

Glad it helped!

[@_Bezuga_4269]

This actually helps a lot,thank you for the help i always struggled to colour my drawings abd this helps a LOT

[@LucasPeinador]

Glad I could help!

[@kalystagutierrez1607]

This actually makes sense to me

[@LucasPeinador]

haha awesome, happy to help

[@megantheescallion8565]

Does the skin color have to be involved in the color design or can it be neutral and only have the color scheme affect the clothing

[@LucasPeinador]

However you prefer it as a creator... but the 20/80 rule is about the whole illustration 😉👍

[@corasundae]

Yeah, if you only draw people with natural skin tones, I'd imagine this would be very limiting.

[@nevisnebis1207]

I’d say if your character shows a lot of skin, include it in the color palette. If they’re fairly covered up (especially if they have a natural skin color) you can leave it out of the color palette or think of it as a tertiary color.

[@BambiTrout]

You could maybe just vary the colour temperature? Like keep it beige/brown, but nudge it a bit towards your main colour. e.g Main colour blue = cooler skin tone, main colour orange = warmer skin tone.

[@agnese2944]

Thank you so much! I often have an idea of what color I want for my characters, but I dont want it so that the hair is the same colour as the clothing

[@LucasPeinador]

Happy to help 👍

[@nightfallnoir]

Us traditional artists: “Yes, we don’t have a color circle to exactly get the opposite shade- but we’ll get there, someday.”

[@LucasPeinador]

haha good luck 👍

[@jelofisk]

How can I do this with more than two colors?

[@skilamalink]

Still pick a primary color, then pick 2 secondaries that are equidistant from your primary color on the color wheel. They can be close to your primary or far, but they should be the same distance. Then if you want more than 3, divide the space between your secondary colors (from the side that doesn’t have your primary) into equal segments. Between each segment is a new color choice, so that all of your secondary colors will also be equidistant from each other. ((But only the first 2 secondary colors are equidistant from the primary) But be careful, since the more colors you add, the busier and more complicated the drawing gets. It’s also a good idea to give your secondary colors a hierarchy. Still prioritize your primary, then pick a secondary for 2nd priority and so on. For example, if you have 3 colors, color your piece with 60% for your primary, 30% for secondary-1, and 10% for secondary-2

[@LucasPeinador]

You use a bit of a different method and divide it accordingly.

[@B4ldY0imiya]

The jumpscare,j thought it was a random nsfw going to pop on my screen but its a rlly good lesson that helped me a lot lol

[@LucasPeinador]

haha happy to hear that 👍

[@xxcreating._.chaosxx]

As an artist, I can confirm that this was very helpful and I'm saving this video for future reference

[@LucasPeinador]

👍👍

[@StrxwberryHxrmony]

Why is nobody talking about her weird pose for the drawing 😂?

[@LucasPeinador]

weird pose? how weird?

[@hacky_sackin]

Not to mention the beginning. Y did he do that 😐

[@AnaOhKay]

@@hacky_sackin whats wrong with the beginning?

[@pandakatiefominz]

​@@LucasPeinadorI mean women simply do not sit like that lmao, not if we're just on our phones

[@tsuki3752]

@@pandakatiefominzi mean it doesn’t look like she’s just on her phone lol it looks like she’s taking a sexy mirror selfie. it looks like it’s a pose for like an only fans or smthn.

[@thedrawngamer2777]

Only time I had a physical reaction from a drawing (on KZbin)

[@LucasPeinador]

haha

[@Scott.......]

Thanks for the tips, bro!

[@LucasPeinador]

Happy to help

[@Melanie.5]

You are so underrated 😭 I like drawing chibi but now I find mixing emoji interesting!

[@LucasPeinador]

Thank you so much 😀

[@peppermiinti]

in interior and graphic design, there’s a 70-20-10 rule: 70% is the main colour, 20% is a secondary colour and 10% is the accents.

[@LucasPeinador]

Yes, that is also a very good distribution 👍

[@servxl3406]

This helped me understand color theory better than 90% of the stuff out there, thank you. And gorgeous art as well!

[@LucasPeinador]

I'm so glad! Happy I can help

[@Woak.1]

I love the way made it into percentages. It’s the perfect way to achieve balance

[@LucasPeinador]

awesome, happy that it was useful

[@coolnoobalert]

Y E S . I’m not good at art, but I understand color theory very well! 🙏 And you explained what I couldn’t explain PERFECTLY!

[@LucasPeinador]

haha thank you very much

[@tempori]

aw the 80 20 theory

[@LucasPeinador]

Yeah of course 👍

[@Jennyy_YT]

omg. Tysm for telling me this. This REALLY helped! Tysm! (And Awesome drawing btw!)

[@LucasPeinador]

Glad I could help!

[@shadowdroid776]

This was more helpful than my color theory class! Also, funnily enough, that 80/20 ratio is the same thing for inking panels. The more you get away from it being 50/50, the more dynamic and interesting the panels look!

[@LucasPeinador]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Raccoonheart]

Your army style is so creative j love it!!

[@LucasPeinador]

👍 Thank you very much

[@breadbird]

bro really said “no one knows how to use complementary colors” like complementary colors are a recently discovered artifact that nobody can use

[@LucasPeinador]

A lot of people don't know how to use them properly... in what ration and in what way... so...

[@derbjfgof3807]

Aw ty 😂❤

[@LucasPeinador]

No problem 👍

[@Iotuseater]

Thank you for explaining this so simply! Very underrated :DD !

[@LucasPeinador]

Glad it was helpful!

[@noneyabeezwax6904]

Those brushes are insane bro

[@LucasPeinador]

Thank you very much - the link is in my description (if you would want them)

[@yorealkat4177]

Please draw more shrimp they are cute

[@LucasPeinador]

haha I will publish a shrip on my IG in a few days 👍

[@tesoroofall8499]

Dang this actually makes so much sense, thank you

[@LucasPeinador]

haha happy to hear that :D

[@Grace-ui8cv]

This improves my coloring a lot better! Thank you :D❤❤❤❤

[@LucasPeinador]

Glad I could help!

[@bethanymckinney7607]

Thank you!! That's me! I don't know how to use complementary colors! 👋

[@LucasPeinador]

Great, happy to help 👍👍

[@belleve2understand]

Cool!!!

[@LucasPeinador]

Thank you, happy you like it

[@elliewinfield1533]

Bro really snuck in a spicy drawing at the end 💀

[@LucasPeinador]

😅😉

[@Pastel_Artz]

This makes a lot more sense now Ty

[@LucasPeinador]

happy to help

[@rishanraaj7367]

The intro tho 💀

[@LucasPeinador]

haha what?

[@rishanraaj7367]

You know what you did ,nice "hook "

[@SimplyIzzy123]

Dang this is so cool! Thanks ! Can you tell us how you deal with Art block?

[@LucasPeinador]

Thank you 👍 Will make a video in the future 😉

[@glowingforthe1654]

Omg i do this for my comic and even use the text to show every characters signature color

[@LucasPeinador]

Awesome 👍 happy to hear that

[@starberriez9218]

Very helpful, for years I've struggled with this. Thank you!

[@LucasPeinador]

You're very welcome! Happy to help

[@CherryXXCola]

“But nobody knows how to use them” *laughs in art scholar*

[@LucasPeinador]

haha

[@sanzu3759]

KAKYOIN

[@LucasPeinador]

what? 🤔

[@Layshortcake_3450]

@@LucasPeinadorit's from Jojos bizarre adventure

[@Saverakay]

Finally something about colours that I actually understood by the end of the video.. 😂❤ Thanks a much!

[@LucasPeinador]

You're welcome 😊 Happy to help

[@golden_opal6050]

Thank you, i struggle with complementary colors

[@LucasPeinador]

Happy to help!

[@ishiguru.]

Do you understand the Bangladesh comments? lol

[@LucasPeinador]

hmm no?

[@ishiguru.]

@@LucasPeinador Look up the Bangladesh Flag, then you might understand

[@natsukytakahashii9554]

does the skin color necessarily need to have the same color as the main color, or can I use different ones?

[@LucasPeinador]

It depends on what you want

[@natsukytakahashii9554]

@Lucas Peinador oh ok! thank you for the video. It was really helpful

[@Dot_o]

This video just showed me that i was doing something correct without even knowing. Thanks!

[@LucasPeinador]

Glad I could help!

[@snnuglex]

the main color of my character; yes

[@LucasPeinador]

haha

[@imhereforfun9852]

i spot genya's demon form👀

[@LucasPeinador]

haha what?

[@imhereforfun9852]

​@@LucasPeinadoroh i meant about the color complementary thing,since the character Genya Shinezugawa from demon slayer consists of purple,when it was revealed that he could temporaly turn into a demon,the tips of his hair and his eyes would turn yellow! I was actually a bit curious as to why that was but now i know!

[@el.oh.you.]

tldr it depends on the placement

[@LucasPeinador]

👍

[@ReiTheMarshmellow69]

I love this concept and use it a lot! I didn't know how useful it actually is but I use it for character designs all the time and it really helps!

[@LucasPeinador]

Glad it was helpful!

[@franbowstherapycenter9319]

Finally! Now I know that ratio I need instead of leaving my drawings black and white 😭😭🫶

[@LucasPeinador]

haha that's great. happy to hear that

[@NoorHendy]

I REALLY NEEDED THIS

[@LucasPeinador]

haha awesome 👍

[@boopdoop2471]

Where do I go to get your set?

[@LucasPeinador]

I made it - here is the link to my store: shop.lucaspeinador.com/products/lp-brushes

[@boopdoop2471]

@@LucasPeinador thanks

[@komi_roblox]

You actually made my flag but you crossed it >:(

[@LucasPeinador]

What? What are you talking about? This has nothing to do with any flag or any politics... it is an art tutorial

[@Skrimbi]

🇧🇩

[@aduckinggporcupine.]

@@LucasPeinador Bangladesh 🇧🇩

[@TheCookie13]

I usually use a few different colour like 2 or 4

[@LucasPeinador]

hmm 🤔

[@ManofGeese600]

THE 80 20 RULE IS FIRE ONG 🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@LucasPeinador]

haha happy to help 👍

[@Ka-Chow95_]

Sus

[@LucasPeinador]

what?

[@Ka-Chow95_]

@@LucasPeinador the rocket guy and the astronaut

[@somethings9090]

I have a blue and orange character! I use blue for their furr [ they are a cat ] and orange for accessories, scars, nose/ears, and the mouth!

[@LucasPeinador]

interesting 🤔

[@memetree1621]

I'm not an artist or anything but i just wanted to say huge respect for replying to every comment. Keep it up my guy 💪

[@LucasPeinador]

I appreciate that, thank you... I am trying

[@firebonepg7521]

He got my attention all right

[@LucasPeinador]

hahaha

[@kaylagordon3441]

I’m in love with these brushes 😲💖

[@LucasPeinador]

Ohh that is so nice to hear

[@air8536]

Definitely watching for the color theory...

[@LucasPeinador]

Aren't we all 👀 haha

[@PepperedCatt..]

I usually pick one warm color and one cool color, (ex: green and yellow, blue and red,) and use those colors do do most of the coloring and then I pick a complimentary color and add it in places I want to pop.

[@LucasPeinador]

Thanks for sharing!!

[@HotAndBuffShrekThirstTrap]

I shall save this video for later because it’s cool and not any other reason

[@LucasPeinador]

hahaha

[@Not_me_Gacha]

Thank you it was really helpful 👍✨️

[@LucasPeinador]

Glad it was helpful!

[@abdulaziiz5225]

bro keep making cool stuff and useful videos. It realy help me a lot😀🙏

[@LucasPeinador]

Thanks, will do!

[@desihirohamada]

i've been using complementary characters to color almost all my ocs holy schist

[@LucasPeinador]

awesome 👍

[@nicoleferreira8384]

More color theory videos please you say things so clearly and is easily understood 🙏🏻 ❤

[@LucasPeinador]

haha okey, happy you like them

[@echohoover5820]

Finally! Someone who knows what to do! I do block sketching and with that I use my character's "color personality," then for coloring them I use clipping, so the layer I'm clipping has the color that I'm MOSTLY using.

[@LucasPeinador]

Good 👍 I m glad this video was useful

[@lindseybrant7624]

Thank you

[@LucasPeinador]

happy to help 👍

[@theprofessional_dork]

I've been doing this unintentionally for years

[@LucasPeinador]

Awesome 👍

[@gayathri1056]

Thanks this helps a lot

[@LucasPeinador]

Glad it helped

[@toasteebread2898]

there’s amazing books available at the library with set color combinations (like 5 colors that go well together for themes) that i found to be extremely helpful

[@LucasPeinador]

awesome, thank you for sharing

[@gyratedpastry]

This is sort of the case with my main oc, she has red hair with yellow tips and yellow wings on her head but the rest (eyes, clothes and accessories) are blue and/or white

[@LucasPeinador]

awesome 👍

[@fionah-chan]

great tip :D thank you!!!

[@LucasPeinador]

Happy to help

[@Donnieartzz]

I love using complementary colors. My favorite are orange and blue since the scenery can be beautiful with just 2 colors 😌👍

[@LucasPeinador]

Thanks for sharing!!

[@paulusiilonga1398]

Damn shawty lookin goOOood!🗣🗣

[@LucasPeinador]

happy to hear that

[@Banannalisse]

One tip I will throw out there is to use the colors in thirds (or somewhere around there) and have the two complimentary colors, plus a color that is next to one of the complimentary colors on the color wheel, like blue, purple, and orange. The blue and purple go together nicely and the orange adds a little pop of contrast

[@LucasPeinador]

Thank you for sharing

[@johnear5657]

Thats so easy to color with digital tool

[@LucasPeinador]

try it and you will see...

[@CryingJackal]

My character is purple and yellow and I find this to be so helpful

[@LucasPeinador]

haha happy to hear that

[@creamymintchicchip8454]

If you want to find the main colour after doing base colours only then merge all the layers together if you haven’t already, alpha lock the layer and blur it loads

[@LucasPeinador]

Interesting 🤔

[@tsuyumint]

I think I unintentionally did this once, I mean a little intentional since I was considering the complimentary colours but I didn't know to use them an I basically did exactly this (it being orange (and red) and blue tho) and I'm proud of myself

[@LucasPeinador]

awesome, hope this helps

[@theoddmagician]

tysm for the tip! i love your accent! :D

[@LucasPeinador]

Oh thank you!

[@nocbvideos6458]

also think about desaturating one of the two colors

[@LucasPeinador]

👍

[@yingzheng2594]

I use bright orange to be the skin color because it looks like it

[@LucasPeinador]

Awesome

[@yingzheng2594]

i only use colors instead of skin colors

[@Chris_Edits12]

Thank you i took my character with no color with color thank you so much!!!

[@LucasPeinador]

awesome

[@ocelot420_69]

Go with a 90/10 ratio to not make it too obvious. An art teacher in highschool taught me that about clothes.

[@LucasPeinador]

that is a bit of a weird proportion, but if it work for you, then that's great

[@Venti.the.bard.613]

I spent years learning how to do pop art in illustrator and now you’re telling me there’s a halftone BRUSH??!! TAKE MY MONEY!!!

[@LucasPeinador]

haha I am very happy you like them 👍

[@user-sg8og6cx5u]

Thanks for the tip

[@LucasPeinador]

No problem!

[@Kodi_theoryorigin12]

Inappropriate art but useful way for learning anatomy!

[@LucasPeinador]

Thank you so much 😀

[@minervajones2585]

THANK YOU

[@LucasPeinador]

yw!

[@bigjayart]

Great content!

[@LucasPeinador]

Thank you very much 👍