The Beginner's Guide to Color Theory for Digital Artists (Udemy.com)

Let's go beyond the color wheel. Learn how to practically apply color theory to your art & stop being afraid of color!

Created by: Kurt Michael Russell

Produced in 2018

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What you will learn

  • Learn to add color to your art confidently!
  • Learn how to apply color theory principles to your art instead of just learning terms on a color wheel.

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Quality Score

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Overall Score : 94 / 100

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Course Description

Are you an artist thats usually satisfied with your artwork UNTIL its time to add color? I remember that feeling!

In this course, Ill teach you how to practically apply color theory concepts to your digital art, so you can stop being afraid of color and start using it to elevate your art to a whole new level!

Color can be a scary aspect of any visual art, since poor use of color can easily make or break a great drawing, painting, logo,or sketch. Early in my own studies, I was repeatedly disappointed by the color theory tutorials I found online. Sure, I would learn some terminology--warm, cool, primary, secondary, complementary, etc--but this is just terminology! How do I actually use these concepts in my art?!

If youve ever found yourself asking that question, this is the course for you!

In addition tothe hours of real-time, step-by-step video lessons, youll also get:

Line drawings for practice, so you can focus on color.
Layered PSD files used in the lessons.
Examples from my pro work as a digital colorist at Image Comics & Top Cow.

Although Photoshop is used throughout this course, the color theory concepts taught herecan be applied with most of your favorite digital art applications such as Photoshop, Clip Studio, Paintstorm, Procreate, Corel Painter, Sketchbook Pro, Krita, ArtRage, etc.

So if you're ready to learn how to make color work FORyou, instead of against you, I'll see you inside. :)Who this course is for:
Anyone who loves their black and white drawings, but gets worried when it's time for color!
Anyone who wants to learn more about color theory than just the color wheel!
Anyone who wants to know how to actual apply color theory knowledge to their art.

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Instructor Details

Kurt Michael Russell

Hi! Ihavebeen working professionally as a comic book coloristsince 2011 and teaching digital coloring online on YouTube since 2013.

I learned about coloring the hard way early on, and I do my best to make sure that no one else has to take the same route I did! I'm still always learning new things and try to bring you guys along with me.

As of 2021, I've colored over a hundred books for publishers such as Image Comics, Vault Comics, Top Cow, IDW, Oni, and many others.

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The Advanced Guide to Digital Art with Procreate on iPad!

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A Pro's Guide to Coloring with CLIP STUDIO PAINT!

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Reviews

4.7

265 total reviews

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By Chandramohan Kannan on 11/21/2020

We covered a whole lot more than color theory; but nothing in its entirety... it was all touch and go... for which I can't blame Kurt entirely... however, I have always thought and been taught as well that the primary colors from a digital perspective were Red, Green, and Blue and secondary colors were Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow... the course instead presented the colorwheel from a traditional pigment paint perspective where Red, Blue and Yellow are considered Primary, based on how to combine them... since this course was for Digital Artists, I was a bit confused and baffled, whether the basis for everything I had known earlier was entirely wrong, if I had understood the primary colors wrong...
On another part, Kurt keeps mentioning, that he would either include links or additional material on the resources section... I wonder what and where those resources are? Because the three zip files attached to the Introduction lesson, doesn't have them...

By Mhmoud on 11/14/2020

just what I wanted to know about colors as a beginner

By Eduardo on 11/7/2020

Kurt is a really good teacher, and the course is really hands-on.

By Paulina Miciuleviciute on 11/7/2020

Useful techniques! Finally found something that you can use practically rather than just the classic "just look at the color wheel for the color combinations".

By Tan Do on 11/7/2020

very good course for understanding the fundamentals of colour theory and practical applications

By Gaely Hendriks on 11/1/2020

Great course! Very helpful.

By Alexander Vincini on 10/24/2020

great lessons!

By Christine Smith on 10/22/2020

Good basic reminder of importance of value and how to use it for creating focal points.

By Cornelis Blonk on 10/21/2020

A great introduction to colour theory for digital art! I learnt a lot of interesting techniques and tips and I will definitely be coming back to watch this course again as I get more comfortable with digital art.

By Natalie Darling on 10/20/2020

Such a great class! I learned so many interesting and easy to utilize concepts for using color techniques to improve my art. The instructor is very easy to learn from.

By Vinita Sawant on 10/16/2020

Amazing

By Katie Straughn on 10/9/2020

The beginning lessons covered some decent color theory, and the instructor did bring some new art tips to my attention. However, I had already learned quite a bit of what he taught simply by watching YouTube tutorials. He's a comic colorist, and so a lot of his experience and advice stemmed from this, and I wish his course name reflected this. Given the name, the course is not what I expected as someone trying to learn digital painting. His explanations of layer modes was rudimentary at best. He didn't know how to explain most of them, and I could have learned more simply by reading Photoshop's manual. I really want to give him a higher rating, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a disappointed in how the material was covered. Overall, he seemed a bit nervous and unsure of himself in presenting the information. He seemed to be winging most of the lessons, and some of them felt redundant because of this.
This course might be worth buying if you're very new to digital painting, but if you've done any research at all on YouTube or read art books, you're probably good to skip this one.