 |
| Even Triadic: Orange-Red, Green and Blue |
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. |
- Lower Overall Contrast:
- Pick one colour for the bulk of your miniature.
- Higher Overall Contrast
- Try to balance the distribution of your colours.
- When choosing which two colours will be the extras:
- Due to even spacing, you won't be able to choose colours that blend.
 |
| Left: Blue and Green create a contrast but pleasing. Right: Bold, strong overall contrasts. Created with painter from Bolder & Chainsword |
- Lower Contrast / Pleasing
- Choose two colours with the same Temperature.
Ex: Main: Orange-Red, Extra: Green and Blue. - Higher Contrast
- Choose two colours with opposite Temperatures.
Ex: Main: Green, Extra: Orange-Red and Blue OR Main: Blue, Extra: Orange-Red and Green.
Since the three colours are spread out around the wheel, none of them really blend with the other and they're all going to stand out. Remember - If colours are clashing too much, they can be made to look darker, lighter or toned. In the above marine example, I did just that. Compare this example to the one with Split-Complementary, where the chosen Hues are left alone and the colours are harder on the eyes.
Painting it and Composition Comparison
I'm painting the marine this week the same way I painted the Split-Complementary Triad scheme. At the end here, I'll compare the two schemes to show the difference as colours are spread out.
Speed up Painting: Learn How Paint Covers
I'm not painting these minis to any high quality, I'm just demonstrating how colours compare, so anything that speeds up the process is great. Learn how your paints work. As I'm painting the basic layers, I don't mind being a little sloppy to paint quicker in the areas I know the next paint I'll be using will cover up. In the photos below, black is a safe bet to cover most colours and while orange usually won't cover dark blue, it's ok because I'm using GW Foundation paint which is designed to paint over anything.
Usually, darker colours will cover lighter ones, (yellow, lime, red, etc) but different brands of paint work differently. For example, I find lighter P3 paints cover colour better than light GW paints BUT, P3 paints aren't as bright as GW ones. GW also has changed their paints a lot over the years.
Once again, I throw a wash over everything to bring out the details, then assemble the model.
Remember, for tabletop quality, no need to highlight areas your brush can't reach.
Highlight
To finish up I highlight the orange and blues with their original
Here you can see the final highlighted photo, compared to last week's split-complementary miniature. A few observations right off the bat:
- The Magenta and Red-Orange colours on the marine on the right create a much more striking image.
- This is because these colours are near Red, opposite Green on the colour wheel and highly contrasting.
- Blue, Orange and Green create a composition that, to me, seems more plain.
- Being spread out evenly, each colour avoids it's complement.
- It also means they're apart from each other enough that they don't blend. (Like how close the Magenta and Red-Orange is.)
White vs Grey Primer
Just once again showcasing how miniatures primed with different tones look different. All the colours are really vibrant with White primer, while the Grey primed miniatures look a little more grim-dark.
