Post on 18-Jan-2016
transcript
White, black and shades of grey
White - when using white, try using
off-white
Black - when using black, try using
dark colours/shades of greyJet black looks quite artificial - it’s not around us in
nature. Some artists never use black but mix it from other colours
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASisley-Bridge_at_Villeneuve-la-Garenne.jpg
Bridge at Villeneuve-la-Garenne, 1872, by Alfred Sisley (1839 - 1899)
Fine ArtMany of the Impressionist painters avoided black
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AGeorges_Seurat_012.jpg
Bridge of Courbevoie, 1886-87, by Georges Seurat (1859–1891)
Varying black and white
Using off-white and different tones of black (e.g. dark grey) may still give the impression you are using black and white but the effect is
softer:
M O T I V A T I O N
Which example above uses pure white and jet black, and which uses off-white and dark grey?
1 2
M O T I V A T I O N
Black, white, grey and colour
Black, white and grey are neutral colours and therefore it is easy to place colours next to them
M O T I V A T I O N
1 2
M O T I V A T I O N
Removing colours changing saturationYou can open an image in Photoshop and de-saturate colours (i.e. make them greyer). Select Image > Adjustments > Hue, then select the colour from the
drop down menu, and slide the saturation to the left:
In the photo on the right, the background has been
greyed out by de-saturating the green and yellow tones. Notice the
grey still harmonises with the girl’s dress and
colour tones
Summary questions
Look around you and if something looks pure jet black or brilliant white, ask yourself is it really?
Identify anything that has grey combined with
colour: is it harmonious?
Open an image and de-saturate the background so the foreground becomes coloured