This week we learned colour theory.
Admittedly colour is something that scares me and it all stems from my lack of understanding on how to use it effectively so I was excited to learn about how to apply what I knew into my art, and to expand my knowledge of this topic. I learnt the differences in the additive colour system (RGB) and the subtractive colour system (CMYK), The different usages of the colour wheel system and how they effect the audience as well as the psychology of colour and how this is used on screen to affect audiences.
With this knowledge I went to study some stills from an animated show and test my understanding of colour and see how effective they are in creating a particular mood or theme.
ARCANE
Arcane has one of the best uses of colour in an animated show, they use all of the elements I studied above and they use them effectively to convey the strong emotions throughout the plot.
Monochromatic:
In this first example the use of only red highlights and exaggerates this idea of danger, death and destruction of the bridge. It highlights the aftermath of a rebellion and the carnage left with the bodies and bridge covered in flames and fog and the anger of the people that fought here.
This second example however is the opposite, it uses these desaturated blues to created this melancholic and sombre atmosphere. The saturation increases towards the focal points here too and it creates an almost mysterious and threatening tone in the scene that then ties into the character themselves as they themselves are connected to this blue hue.
Analogous:
This is a nice warm analogous colour scheme. In this scene the warm red to yellow hues and the saturation of these create this mood of a warm memory, the harmony between them is pleasant to look at and has a tone of love. However, the scene is also contrasted in this with the foreground being removed from this and instead is replaced with cold harsh shadows and it is because the warmth of the analogous scheme is actually not real, its all created in the mind of the female in the frame who is bathed in this light. In fact the reds used in this scene that create the idea of love of the memory also hint at the anger and danger that the young girl is revealed to feel around this location, which is why the red is so prominent behind her.
This analogous colour scheme in this scene uses warm blues and purples to disrupt the expected and adds the madness of the characters lair. Blue is this character’s signature colour, so the colour surrounds her and the highly saturated, bright colours adds to her unnatural and almost twisted childish nature. The gradient in which this scene follows hints at gradual disconnect of her in the real world (and what happens in actuality) and this childish, fun-loving yet unhinged world she sees.
Complimentary:
This scene uses the complementary colours of orange and blue to increase the dramatic tension and create the bold statement of the acts conclusion. The contrast between the muted blue on the outer frame and the warmth of the orange in the centre is symbolising the idea of emptiness and isolation with new beginnings and family. The fire here to is also ‘passing the torch” of looking after the small girl from one deceased man to a new, seemingly threatening one. The transition from the blue to orange tones could also be creating the idea of the death of the young girl’s innocence (who is associated with the colour blue) as she now lies in the centre of this new dangerous crime-led life with those in the dangerous warmth of the orange fire.
Triadic:
Here we have a more subtle use of the triadic colour scheme, yellow of the lights, the red of the mans jacket and a chemical and the overall blue scene. Here the triadic colours create a sense of balance in the overall unorganised props littered in the scene. The man himself is one known to be calculating and sly and this use of the triad helps feed into this idea, through the mess of the world he is able to keep control of the situation. 
Other uses of Colour:
The use of blue is very important to particularly one character in Arcane, Powder/Jinx. The blue here connects the girl and this magical orb which becomes an important element to the future plot, the blue is incredibly similar in hue and the glow from it and how it reflects in her eyes emphasises the connection between them. The unnatural quality of this blue creates this fantastical idea of magic in the world and creates a childlike wonder of the girl.
Green here is used to exaggerated the unnatural and chemical feeling of this city. The city lacks natural light from the smog and so the desaturated colour palette is key in creating the idea of a toxic environment combining it with the sickly, unnatural green creates this almost toxic wasteland city. The wash of green creates this idea of this chemical cloud settling in and thus a lack of clean air to the civilians who have no choice to breathe it in due to lack of wealth in this city. 
Colour Scripts:
The colour scheme with this scene was very storybook like, as Jayce recounted a fond memory. The colours are kept very natural and pastel-like, nice vivid greens and a bright blue sky that combines with the chalky grey of the mountain and off-white clouds. The overall feeling of the scene brings hope and a sense of adventure, its very natural and idyllic.
In this scene however the colour scheme is more muted and creates this atmosphere of an unnatural danger and fear. The overall surroundings are desaturated and are all some form of blue that casts from the storm generated from the very bright, piercing light that is the focal point. When taking these colours out it was very interesting to see that they weren’t what I expected and that the colours surrounding the in the frame had affected them so greatly. 
EXPERIMENTATION
After looking at these it was time to put these into practice myself, and to do this I went and used my value study from last week. For this I wanted to try using monochromatic colour of red, so I changed the hue and only used this but changed the saturation to try change the colour. This was the end result and while I’m not completely happy with this I enjoyed trying to be strict to one hue. I could see an adjustment of this frame being used in my animation.
For this I tried colouring a line drawing into a colourful scene. I did this by using bright saturated colours to try achieve a storybook style look, something bright and cheerful with a clear sky and more diluted shadows. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this as the finished result but it does look like a good start at exploring moods captured in colours.
Overall I have a newfound understanding of colour theory and will start to do more studies and practice to improve.