Color Temperature

Color is a vital tool in the illustrator’s tool belt.  It supplies mood and character.  Often it is used to clearly identify on a focal point.  And it has the power to impact the viewer in profound ways.  Studies from the 60’s and 70’s show that a red pill is more effective as a stimulant than a blue pill.  On the other hand, a blue pill is more effective as a sleeping agent than an orange one.  Also, green, white or blue pills aren’t as effective as red ones as painkillers.  Yet all of these pills were placebos, having no real medication other than the color playing on the mental perception. 

Why is that football players wearing red were statistically more likely to win than teams in other colors?  How is it that paintings containing red fetched higher prices at a London contemporary art auction house than those without red?  It is the psychology of color.

One key to painting that I constantly have to remember is the color temperature.  When the light is warm like from the afternoon sun, then the shadows need to be cool in the blues and purples.  Conversely, when the light is cool like from indoor lighting or early morning light, then the shadows should be warmer.  It is a tough concept to keep in mind.  Not only that but the rule is that cool colors recede and warm colors advance.  This makes it hard to paint red backgrounds which flatten out a picture and come forward naturally, or blue foreground images which tend to recede naturally.

How do you use color?  Do you fret over color temperature or background colors?  I’d love to hear about your color psychology experiences.