Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I am not the best of painters, but I did take a lot of care and time with these models and I think they turned out pretty well. Been working on a whole army but these are the only models that are finished (since basing is not required and I'm waiting on my new bases to come in)

Hey dude, I know you probably don't want to repaint now, but for future reference, here's an artist's tip:



On a colour wheel, complimentary colours are directly across from each other. For instance, teal and aqua compliment red. This is why you see so many armies (such as the Tomb Kings) painted those two colours. You want to avoid all your colours being on one side of the wheel.
In your case you're mixing blues, purples, greens and metallics all at once.

There's also this site called Kuler where you can pick colours you like and it'll throw complimentary colours at you.

Hope this helps!

Good work otherwise though!

TheUndertaker wrote:Hey dude, I know you probably don't want to repaint now, but for future reference, here's an artist's tip:



On a colour wheel, complimentary colours are directly across from each other. For instance, teal and aqua compliment red. This is why you see so many armies (such as the Tomb Kings) painted those two colours. You want to avoid all your colours being on one side of the wheel.
In your case you're mixing blues, purples, greens and metallics all at once.

There's also this site called Kuler where you can pick colours you like and it'll throw complimentary colours at you.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the info, at this point no im not going to go back and repaint my 2k points i have already painted, but I will deffinitly think on this for my next army scheme. Is that why red with blue looks sharp but mine looks just good but not great?

runmymouth wrote:

TheUndertaker wrote:Hey dude, I know you probably don't want to repaint now, but for future reference, here's an artist's tip:



On a colour wheel, complimentary colours are directly across from each other. For instance, teal and aqua compliment red. This is why you see so many armies (such as the Tomb Kings) painted those two colours. You want to avoid all your colours being on one side of the wheel.
In your case you're mixing blues, purples, greens and metallics all at once.

There's also this site called Kuler where you can pick colours you like and it'll throw complimentary colours at you.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the info, at this point no im not going to go back and repaint my 2k points i have already painted, but I will deffinitly think on this for my next army scheme. Is that why red with blue looks sharp but mine looks just good but not great?

While that is true it is a fairly simplistic way of looking at it. Complementary is just one possible color scheme and popular because it gives a dynamic, contrasting look. But it isn't the end all of color scheme theory. There are triad themes, mono-themes, dissonant schemes, contrast themes. Typically you just don't want to mix schemes, but even that isn't a hard and fast rule if you know what your doing.

You for instance have gone with a dissonent color scheme which gives and eerie, slightly off feel. I consider that a strength of your army. A traditional, complimentary scheme would be detrimental to the feel you are trying to give.

And even from there color wheel theory doesn't cover all possibilities, psychology and nature comes into it too. For example, blue and brown don't really work according to color wheel theory, but due to the predominance of leather and jeans in our society they have come to be an accepted combination. In your case purples and greens are a common sight on florescent beetles, spiders, and scarabs, again psychologically giving off and eery feel, which is, again, not a bad thing.

Long story short, color theory is an expansive topic, and really can help you avoid making mistakes (for example it would tell you NOT to add red to you guys,and it would be correct because that would be awful). Learning about it can certainly help you give the right feel to your armies. But it is a guide and tool, not a constraint, and the more you know about it the more you can break the rules. In your case you have instinctually chosen a dissonant color scheme, and don't need to feel bad about it.

Totally awsome!

riplikash wrote:

runmymouth wrote:

TheUndertaker wrote:Hey dude, I know you probably don't want to repaint now, but for future reference, here's an artist's tip:



On a colour wheel, complimentary colours are directly across from each other. For instance, teal and aqua compliment red. This is why you see so many armies (such as the Tomb Kings) painted those two colours. You want to avoid all your colours being on one side of the wheel.
In your case you're mixing blues, purples, greens and metallics all at once.

There's also this site called Kuler where you can pick colours you like and it'll throw complimentary colours at you.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the info, at this point no im not going to go back and repaint my 2k points i have already painted, but I will deffinitly think on this for my next army scheme. Is that why red with blue looks sharp but mine looks just good but not great?

While that is true it is a fairly simplistic way of looking at it. Complementary is just one possible color scheme and popular because it gives a dynamic, contrasting look. But it isn't the end all of color scheme theory. There are triad themes, mono-themes, dissonant schemes, contrast themes. Typically you just don't want to mix schemes, but even that isn't a hard and fast rule if you know what your doing.

You for instance have gone with a dissonent color scheme which gives and eerie, slightly off feel. I consider that a strength of your army. A traditional, complimentary scheme would be detrimental to the feel you are trying to give.

And even from there color wheel theory doesn't cover all possibilities, psychology and nature comes into it too. For example, blue and brown don't really work according to color wheel theory, but due to the predominance of leather and jeans in our society they have come to be an accepted combination. In your case purples and greens are a common sight on florescent beetles, spiders, and scarabs, again psychologically giving off and eery feel, which is, again, not a bad thing.

Long story short, color theory is an expansive topic, and really can help you avoid making mistakes (for example it would tell you NOT to add red to you guys,and it would be correct because that would be awful). Learning about it can certainly help you give the right feel to your armies. But it is a guide and tool, not a constraint, and the more you know about it the more you can break the rules. In your case you have instinctually chosen a dissonant color scheme, and don't need to feel bad about it.

Thank you, I do enjoy the perspectives. Anyone recommend a good book (with lots of pictures) to learn more about painting/art/model theory that would help me get a basic understanding of what a lot of people have been mentioning already?

It's rather easy, just look up colour theory on google and you'll find plenty of articles and guides on it.

But don't get hung up on it either. Despite the colours staying one 1 half of the colourwheel, this works imo. It's not superhigh contrast, but that doesn't always have to be the case! Colourtheory is all fine and well to find the most contrasting colours and to find combo's that are naturally appealing to the eye of the beholder... but it's not the be all and end all of colourchoices.

At the end of the day... this colourscheme still works.

Don't tell the Bad Moons about that. Green and Yellow go awesome together!! WAAGGH!!

Of course Evil Sunz are better. Red ones go fasta!

runmymouth wrote:Thanks for the info, at this point no im not going to go back and repaint my 2k points i have already painted, but I will deffinitly think on this for my next army scheme. Is that why red with blue looks sharp but mine looks just good but not great?

Yeah I kinda figured with so much work already gone into it, who would want to redo so much? But it could be! That's partly why most marines are blue/red too. It just goes together! If you want a colour wheel with all the different types of colour combos (triads, monochrome, complimentary, etc) on it, you can get one like this: Colour Wheel Co.

I promise, this would make your models go up in badass points!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

riplikash wrote:

While that is true it is a fairly simplistic way of looking at it. Complementary is just one possible color scheme and popular because it gives a dynamic, contrasting look. But it isn't the end all of color scheme theory. There are triad themes, mono-themes, dissonant schemes, contrast themes. Typically you just don't want to mix schemes, but even that isn't a hard and fast rule if you know what your doing.

You for instance have gone with a dissonent color scheme which gives and eerie, slightly off feel. I consider that a strength of your army. A traditional, complimentary scheme would be detrimental to the feel you are trying to give.

And even from there color wheel theory doesn't cover all possibilities, psychology and nature comes into it too. For example, blue and brown don't really work according to color wheel theory, but due to the predominance of leather and jeans in our society they have come to be an accepted combination. In your case purples and greens are a common sight on florescent beetles, spiders, and scarabs, again psychologically giving off and eery feel, which is, again, not a bad thing.

Long story short, color theory is an expansive topic, and really can help you avoid making mistakes (for example it would tell you NOT to add red to you guys,and it would be correct because that would be awful). Learning about it can certainly help you give the right feel to your armies. But it is a guide and tool, not a constraint, and the more you know about it the more you can break the rules. In your case you have instinctually chosen a dissonant color scheme, and don't need to feel bad about it.

Uh oh, I've started a colour theory shitstorm!
Yeah, I know it's more complicated. I'm well aware of the depth of colour theory. I was trying to give a quick tip to someone. Of course there's more than complimentary, that's why I suggest Kuler. It's a complicated subject, but the fact is, all his colours are on one side of the wheel and sort of clash.

I like to use : http://colorschemedesigner.com/

I use it for my web design work I do on the side.

TheUndertaker wrote:
Uh oh, I've started a colour theory shitstorm!
Yeah, I know it's more complicated. I'm well aware of the depth of colour theory. I was trying to give a quick tip to someone. Of course there's more than complimentary, that's why I suggest Kuler. It's a complicated subject, but the fact is, all his colours are on one side of the wheel and sort of clash.

While it is true they clash I would still argue they clash in a good way as they fall under the dissonant color scheme, typically used to give a dark or eerie feel. In the case of necrons I don't necessarily think a complimentary color scheme would actually be a good idea in a lot of circumstances.

Ignore the haters. They look good man. I like it.

Thanks for all the info. Lots to think about for a future army. It looks like the common consenses is my army doesn't pop because it doesn't clash. It does have an erie feel because it blends. I like how they turned out and it works on the crons. Now I know why I liked the red on my dark angels weapons and honors. Good stuff in here and I thank everyone for the feedback and info!

Think of it this way: it's unique and their colors would be eerie and upsetting to see from the viewpoint of your enemy. So in that regard, you succeeded (and you succeeded in keeping it clean too)

I still think the color scheme isn't bad. At least you had the courage to do something outside of the box.