Today, I'm excited to share a little secret passion of mine – color palettes.
You know ... like those stripes of color palettes you find when you step into a paint store, the world of hues, saturations, and the endless possibilities of color sparks a whirlwind of ideas and inspiration. If you feel the same way, stick with me here (and if you don't, still stick with me because this relates to improving your lighting!)
I love these colors because they allow me to see the differences in color variations as I look at them side by side. This is how I discovered what "warm" and "cool" colors mean. If you don't know what I'm talking about, pull several "white" color palettes in a hardware store next time and see how different white can be!
Now, how does this relate to lighting?
Well, one of the critical things when we light is how we use color. In the lights and material choices, it is all about telling that story. So, it's important to know colors well and how they translate to visuals and ultimately tell the story – it's not just about aesthetics. It's about understanding color's role, especially in lighting, and how it can transform your work.
This is where an AI Tool I've been exploring comes into play – Colormind.io. This tool will take an image and create the color palette of that visual for you in a second. And in that second, you can easily SEE the colors that tell that story. So, what are the specific use cases for this?
1. Visual Inspiration and Direction: Color palettes help you analyze reference visuals, giving you a direct route to capturing the perfect mood and palette for your lighting. When you have visual references (we emphasize to all our lighting students that having good references is crucial in creating), you can utilize a tool like Colormind to pull the color palette from that reference to help you create.
2. Spotting the Subtleties: You can take it further by analyzing your visual and comparing it to the reference to note the differences. If intentional, great! but if you are trying to get closer to that reference and scratching your head as to why it isn't looking right, then a quick palette output from Colormind can let you know that you have very dark blacks in your image that your reference does not! See how it can be helpful?
And just like that, your lighting has improved with this tool. <--- note that I say "tool" .. because AI is a tool to help you create, not replace the creation. Remember that!
How will you utilize this and many other tools?
I can't wait to see!
Join us at the Academy of Animated Art where we focus on the foundations to make you a great artist that no AI tool can replicate and where you utilize the tools to expand yourself further (not the other way around!)
Until then, here is another recent submission from one of our amazing students - where I thought it would be fun to pull the color palette from! What story do you think these colors are telling? (hmm... :) )
Stay curious, keep creating, and let's continue to raise the bar in our creative pursuits!
Happy Lighting!!
Jasmine
CEO & Co-Founder | Academy of Animated Art
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Interested in learning more about the Academy of Animated Art? There are several ways you can dive deeper:
1. Watch our Lighting Master Class on demand here.
2. Join our Discord Channel here and meet the community.
3. Enroll in the Lighting for Animation Program here.
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