# WHAT is your most used color?



## TopazThunder (Oct 13, 2009)

*Not to be confused with your favorite color!*
I just feel like asking some questions to fellow artists about color, and what are some preferences of yours! Especially your most used color(s).

What is the color(s) you use the most? I use several different kinds of greys, usually Steel grey and warm grey, for just about everything. Coloring, blending, toning, you name it. I used to use a lot of black back in the day, but I found that to get really dark color one doesn't need to use copious amounts of black. XD I use blue a lot too, especially lighter blues; it makes for good highlights. I also use green quite a bit, but that's because it also happens to be one of my favorite colors anyway. 

What are your favorite/most used color combinations?
~Black/white/crimson
~Canary yellow/cobalt blue
~Dark green/black/silver or white
~Violet/grey or silver
~Copper/dark green/light green/black

To name a very small few, lol.

When you start a new piece, do you plan out the colors beforehand or do you just "wing it?" Mostly I'm planning out the colors as I'm sketching/inking, but sometimes different colors and tones just...come to me. Those are usually the looser and free-form kinds of pictures I do. 

Does your most used color(s) correlate with your favorite one(s)?This is kind of a mix-up for me, but primarily yes. It doesn't help that a lot of my subjects and characters possess one or more of my favorite colors.


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## Wastedwings (Oct 13, 2009)

depends on medium. in oils i tend to use A LOT of transparent red oxide and naples yellow. in gouache, i use a lot of white and burnt sienna to tone colors.

as far as color combinations. my art all kinda has this weird not- so saturated look. especially my illustrations (none of them are on my fa account, but available on my website). i can't really describe it, but if you look through my pieces they are all really consistent. 

i always have a set idea in my head for colors, but when i'm working on a commission for someone else, i always do color studies.

umm... most used doesn't really. i use pthalo blue a lot, but in very very small amounts, so it's not my most used in literal amounts, but i do like naples yellow! transparent red oxide is good for skin tones. and for the life of me i can't think of the name of it, but there is this nice violet color that is really subtle in oil that i like to use. i haven't been painting in oil in the past couple months so forgive me for that. it's been a lot of gouache.


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## TopazThunder (Oct 13, 2009)

Wastedwings said:


> i always have a set idea in my head for colors, but when i'm working on a commission for someone else, i always do color studies.
> 
> umm... most used doesn't really. i use pthalo blue a lot, but in very very small amounts, so it's not my most used in literal amounts, but i do like naples yellow! transparent red oxide is good for skin tones. and for the life of me i can't think of the name of it, but there is this nice violet color that is really subtle in oil that i like to use. i haven't been painting in oil in the past couple months so forgive me for that. it's been a lot of gouache.



Yeah, I do a lot of color tests and studies, especially when I'm using a color combination or a medium I don't use that often. I also do it when developing characters too, just to see how the colors match up.

Mmm, I love Pthalo blue myself, especially in watercolors. When you get it just right, with just the right amount of water-to-color ratio, it reminds me of crystal-clear Caribbean waters.


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## krisCrash (Oct 14, 2009)

I don't really know, but I can see I don't use green a lot, ever.
It's also hard to get a green that isn't too weird or saturated.

One of my favourites is a bright, saturated vermillon. My paint application's palette seems to be filling with a lot of browns though.


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## Nylak (Oct 14, 2009)

Brown.  Which also happens to be my favorite colour, so this works well for me.  xD  Since most of my pieces are of an organic nature, my palette usually gravitates towards browns, earthy greens, low saturation reds and ochres, that sort of deal.  All of which I love.  :]

I usually do very little planning on colour scheme for my pieces, if only because most of my work is commissioned and detailed by the buyer, or filled in by myself for the sole purpose of necessity.  But when I have free rein, then yes, I always block in the colour scheme while I'm sketching; it's a very important feature of the composition for me.


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## Kit H. Ruppell (Oct 14, 2009)

Red and Orange equally. Blended together to soften pencil marks, they make up most of the fur on my character's body.


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## Wastedwings (Oct 15, 2009)

krisCrash said:


> I don't really know, but I can see I don't use green a lot, ever.
> It's also hard to get a green that isn't too weird or saturated.
> 
> One of my favourites is a bright, saturated vermillon. My paint application's palette seems to be filling with a lot of browns though.



Yeah I find I have the same problem with green. I like to use sap green and hookers green. Dunno if that'll help!


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## Catilda Lily (Oct 15, 2009)

creams, greens, blues. more earthy tones.


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## krisCrash (Oct 15, 2009)

Wastedwings said:


> Yeah I find I have the same problem with green. I like to use sap green and hookers green. Dunno if that'll help!


I nearly only paint digital.
When I do paint acrylics I like to make them ridiculously saturated and happy.

But yeah, I probably should make the traditional colours like Hooker's and Sap green in my digital palette.


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## Wastedwings (Oct 15, 2009)

krisCrash said:


> I nearly only paint digital.
> When I do paint acrylics I like to make them ridiculously saturated and happy.
> 
> But yeah, I probably should make the traditional colours like Hooker's and Sap green in my digital palette.



I love sampling from Dick Blick when I work digitally! They have awesome little spreads for each color you click on!

http://www.dickblick.com/items/01724-7910/
http://www.dickblick.com/items/01724-7090/


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## TopazThunder (Oct 15, 2009)

Wastedwings said:


> I love sampling from Dick Blick when I work digitally! They have awesome little spreads for each color you click on!
> 
> http://www.dickblick.com/items/01724-7910/
> http://www.dickblick.com/items/01724-7090/



Wow, I really need to start browsing Dickblick more often; I utterly forgot that they have samples like that. lol


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## Wastedwings (Oct 15, 2009)

Clafier said:


> Wow, I really need to start browsing Dickblick more often; I utterly forgot that they have samples like that. lol



Yeah. I found that sometime last year and was like! OMG WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE!?!


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## Arshes Nei (Oct 15, 2009)

Depends on the medium I'm working in. I use Cyan Magenta Yellow and Black and White (if I need tints) when I airbrush. That's because I can get the color colors I want. They were in these ink bottles and I just use what I need to paint.

I can generally work with that many colors (6-12 in other mediums). Cerulean Blue I use more than Pthtalo. Though I have both. I use Cerulean due to the mixing properties to get the greens I want. Phtalo depends. Most greens in nature are actually desaturated yellow anyways especially when placed closer to a compliment of green like a dark red (or brown that's really a dark saturated red). 

I like mixing colors for combination or doing old impressionist style of placing it next to another for the appearance of mixing.


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## Arshes Nei (Oct 15, 2009)

Also, you can get the traditional Oil Names out of Painter already in the swatches. There is also http://forums.furaffinity.net/showpost.php?p=1277559&postcount=18


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## Shark_the_raptor (Oct 16, 2009)

Clafier said:


> *Not to be confused with your favorite color!*
> I just feel like asking some questions to fellow artists about color, and what are some preferences of yours! Especially your most used color(s).
> 
> What is the color(s) you use the most?



Black and white.  Usually for shading and tinting.  Especially white for tinting.



> What are your favorite/most used color combinations?



Brown, black, cream.  My raptor's colors.



> When you start a new piece, do you plan out the colors beforehand or do you just "wing it?"



Most of the time it's already planned because of my raptors' in place color palettes.  Just sometimes I have to refer to other colored pieces to get the colors right because it's hard remembering every color detail in a character.



> Does your most used color(s) correlate with your favorite one(s)?



Most of the time yes.  I use black quite a bit even if it's only in the eyes.


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## ClosetMonster (Oct 18, 2009)

Since I'm usually drawing animals and park rangers, I use a lot of greens and browns.  Earth tones...  I like the earth tones.


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## fwarg (Oct 18, 2009)

for me i use alot of black since as ive noticed i make alot of my characters have black hair as well as for color combinations i use alot of black and blue in them though have yet to make bruises


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## Moonstarsun (Oct 18, 2009)

as far as my landscapes go blue and purple. I do a lot of color mixing though to get the the sky hue that reflects off of the land and the purple I use a lot to create natural grey and also to darken a lot of parts.

http://dwolv.deviantart.com/gallery/#Landscapes


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## Dyluck (Oct 18, 2009)

I use a lot of brown, but I mostly try to determine what colours I'm going to use based on photo references and then tweak it to fit the mood of the drawing as I see necessary.

I don't really use colour all that often though, so what do I know. :b


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## NeroFox1989 (Oct 31, 2009)

probably yellow-y orange.  Dunno what you call it


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## Neighboursfiends (Oct 31, 2009)

black depends on the situation


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## Ladyfaegassr (Oct 31, 2009)

What is the color(s) you use the most? I tend to use a lot of purple, mainy for it being a favorite color of mine. I stick with hue/saturation for shading, which gives a darker tone of what ever the primary color is, and a lighter for the highlights. Other than that, it really depends on the setting of the image. If it's a specific season, the colors most respond to that season. Like, for Autumn I'd use reds, yellows, and oranges most. As well as softer browns. 

What are your favorite/most used color combinations?
~Black/white/crimson/Gray
~Yellow/black
~Red/orange/yellow
~Violet/coal
~silver/gold

That's really just a few. I like to play with colors to make new combos. It's one of the fun things about coloring.

When you start a new piece, do you plan out the colors beforehand or do you just "wing it?" It really depends on what I'm drawing. If it is a request or commission, I try to get the color as close to what the commissioner wants as possible. If it's a sketch for me that I've done before, maybe art for my mate, or a familiar character then the color is probably pretty consistent. I do like to try new things when drawing something new though. 

Does your most used color(s) correlate with your favorite one(s)? Usually, yes. I like a lot of colors though, and I have fun trying to correlate the colors to look nicely together.


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