Think of color like line, value, form, texture, and the other elements of design as affecting the perception of your compositional choices. It adds focus, separation, contrast, mood, and provides visual paths for the viewer. Color can make your compositions stand out more and it can also detract or confuse the message if used poorly or without purpose. Understanding its impact will help you choose more effective ways to implement it.
Use Contrast Carefully
Color contrast is the first thing most people think of when trying to make an impact. While contrast does play a role, using the most vivid and intense colors available isn’t always the best choice. Color, like other elements, is all about relationships and interaction. If each element is competing to be seen, you’ll detract from any important messages or focal points you were trying to make.
When used strategically, contrast can help you build a strong visual hierarchy and establish mood. Restrained palettes create calm and cohesion; more intense palettes with sharper differences will create energy. By limiting the amount of sharpest color contrast to just certain elements or areas you’ll create distinct focal points without making the entire piece too intense.
Think About Color Relationships
Not only is the selection of a color critical, but its relationship with other colors is just as important. Colors will blend together when near similar hues and create energy or tension when next to contrasting or complementary colors.
This energy can be used to build a visual path between similar colors, so repeating a small amount of a unique color in the foreground and background will draw attention between them. It can also be used to draw attention to a specific element by pairing contrasting colors to make one of them stand out more.
Where the color is placed within the composition is just as important as choosing the color itself.
Don’t Ignore Neutral Areas
Not everything needs to be bold. White, gray, black, beige, and muted colors are still colors. Using them strategically will create breathing room that will help differentiate your primary subjects and any secondary information. These lower contrast spaces will make a vibrant color appear brighter by providing lower visual competition without introducing new intense color choices.
Neutral colors are just as effective as bright ones in communicating mood. Warmer and cooler color choices change the energy of a piece as do muted and saturated palettes. Color choice affects the mood of a composition just like any other element. There is not one right way to do it and many colors hold specific meaning dependent upon the subject matter, art styles, culture, and their surroundings.
Practice With Limited Palettes
Try creating compositions using only two or three colors to explore how to build a hierarchy or create focal points. See how you can manipulate the color contrast or visual weight by using different hues or the amount of space the color takes up. You’ll be surprised how changing the amount of area a color takes up will completely change the feel of a piece even if the subject matter and elements remain the same.
These small, purposeful challenges will train your eye and help you make more deliberate choices when color is involved in your process. By giving each color a purpose you’ll create more balanced compositions and feel more in control of your work. Once color isn’t just filling empty spaces or providing random accents you’ll be free to experiment and push color choices further than you thought possible.