I have read to do this before I paint the figure or bust can any one explain this easily for me Lol for both historical and fantasy pieces thanks.

Not sure I understand your question but I'll take a shot at it
I think it means the same thing as looking at what you're wearing before you go out of the house in the morning.
Kind of a plaid shirt/checked pants thing.
If the piece allows you the freedom of choice for the colors you'll use, you want to figure out what you want first.
And think about whether the colors would look right on the subject as well as if they go together on the piece.
I did the old Fort Duquesne El Cid bust several years ago and had a very tough time picking the right colors to use.
One on line friend helped me out by taking my in progress shot and applying several different color combinations with software.
I'd suggest you try to find other painters versions on line to help you decide.
Also, if it's an historical subject, look for paintings or photos of the subject to help with ideas.
Hope this helps.
Craig

Good info that helps thanks much

You can also use a colour wheel so that the colours do not clash. There is a section on Complimentary and various split complimentary colours. I use this all the time. for two colours complimentary has the largest effect ie: red/green. (think Christmas.)
Cheers
John

Thanks that makes sense great info I will have to get one of these.

A really good place to start would be to find a book on colour and light, there are many volumes to choose from. This will give the basics you need to formulate a good colour scheme and will help you develop contrasts and highlights better.

Thanks for the info good idea.

Samson,..

I would suggest a more simple format! .. 'Ping', your base colour's, (through some research etc). Then just play, experiment, fluff-up! strip! and re-approach! .. The practical learning curve will be of infinite value to you in the future.

The bottom line being, is learn from your mistakes ... I can't think of a better teacher than that.

Just have fun.

Regards,

Mark

I thought I would post my recipe for the piece I am working right now. This may give you some inspiration as to how colour schemes work. This is by far not the definitive way of coming up with a scheme, there are as many different ways as there are painters, but it does help me to organize my palette. Notice how this whole palette revolves around 3 or 4 colours (i.e 137; cavalry brown, 88; german green, 05; ivory, etc.) always making an appearance when either shading or highlighting, this allows a model to have many colours for different parts but still have continuity across the entire piece. And reference pictures help a ton!

FYI I write down the colours after I have made sure they work on the model, I am not genius enough to come up with the scheme beforehand Although I base any colours I will use on previous colours.

You might find this site helpful, I certainly did (and still do):

http://www.color-wheel-artist.com

I like this page in particular:

http://www.color-wheel-artist.com/triad-colors.html

Eludia,
Thanks for the info. Always glad to have more information.
Cheers
John

I knew you'd get a lot better info than mine

Thank you all for taking the time to reply great info . It is beginning to make a bit of sense now . Thanks everyone for the replies you guys are awesome .
.

Hi


http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&...qmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_6eeyf37zq6_e
This is a book that I have found helpful

Frank

I will be having that, cheers Frank.

Here`s some more about the psychology behind the choice of colors / to some extend useful if you intend to design colors on freestyle/fantasy pieces:
http://thelogocompany.net/blog/infographics/psychology-color-logo-design/

Cheers, Martin

Thanks much everyone really appreciate it