Colour Theory: Rectangular Tetradic Colours

I'll be looking at two Tetradic Schemes - Rectangular and Square.

In both, we use 2 sets of Complementary Colours for a total of 4 colours. The difference between Rectangular and Square is how far apart the colours are spread. We have the benefit of more colours to paint with, however it becomes harder to balance all of them cleanly.

The Rectangular scheme is easier to work with than Square, because here the pairs are spaced closer together, creating two sets of nearly Analogous Colours that act as Complements to the other. It's similar to the Split-Complementary scheme, but there are two sets of complementing colours. Because we're working with complements, there will always be 2 warm and 2 cool colours. Depending on your choices, the near colours will either be the same temperature or opposite temperatures.

Here are some things I recommend:

Colour Theory: Triadic Colours

Even Triadic: Orange-Red, Green and Blue

Colours in the Triad are evenly spaced around the wheel. Together, these colours appear very vibrant. A benefit is that while these colours create a contrast, there's still a harmony due to the even spacing of colours. The trade off is that the contrast won't be as strong as Complementary Colours. Triads can be made from other types of spacing, like the Complementary-Triad, which uses 2 closely related colours and the Complement of one of them.

Due to the even spacing, you'll have 2 Warm colours and 1 Cool colour or 1 Warm and 2 Cools. In the shown Triad, Orange-Red is Warm while Green and Blue are Cool.

Complementary Triad: Red and Yellow
with a Complement of one, Green.

Some tips for painting Triadic Colours would be:

Getting Started: De-Spruing

Continuing after the previous Getting Started post on Unboxing Miniatures, we'll look at more basic steps to hobbying. Some figures come in "sprues", which are plastic or metal waste product from the molding process that hold a bunch of bits. All the pieces first have to be cut out.

This hasn't been something I've had to usually deal with in Privateer Press' miniatures, but very common with Games Workshop's minis.

Colour Theory: Split-Complementary Colours

Main: Green, Split: Orange-Red & Red-Violet

This colour scheme is similar to Complementary Colours, but instead of using the one directly opposite your main choice, it uses the two beside the complementary colour.

You'll share many of the benefits of the complementary colour scheme - and that's strong contrasting colours that really stand out from each other. Unlike standard complementary colours, you've got a third colour to work with. These split colours are nearly analogous, meaning that while they're missing the middle colour, there will still be a blend.

There are three ways that you can go about using these colours:

Colour Theory: Cool Colours

As discussed previously, Colour Temperature talks about how we perceive colours and their relation to others on the colour wheel. Directly, this means Green, Blue, Violet and all the colours in between. Indirectly, you can say that certain colours are cooler than others - so Yellow and Red are cooler than Orange.

Where Warms are powerful, Cool Colours are calm and soothing. They can help smaller spaces appear larger while causing objects to appear to fade in to the background. Naturally, we associate cool colours with skies and water bodies or the Green spectrum with nature.

You can create a fully Cool scene easier than one that's completely Warm because Cool Colours are more relaxing, even using Hues that haven't been changed much. Tips for painting with Cools: