Palette - Paint Brand Color Sample Sets

[Fashmir]

Ka-Blam!!! Look-a-that fine pallet work. Thanks a ton Trurl. These are beautiful.

Jim- Thanks for sharing your insight with us about the print and then paint aspect of working with digital colors. I have been toying with the idea of printing some of my originals on canvas and then painting further on them. This will allow me to use the digital tools I love (ArtRage) and then by painting more on top, I have an 'original' that is unique. I can then run prints in limited editions and it will be based on something that has a singular value as a piece of art.

[John Williams]

Trurl, thanks from a non-artist who is inspired by Artrage and the examples I've sen in the Forums to give ths digital delight a go.

I'm also impressed with the generosity so many have displayed and the great cooperative spirit displayed by all forum posters.

I've been a Member and a moderator of quite a few and rarely seen one where everyone maintains such a good atmosphere.

John Williams

[byroncallas]

Jim Gahl, a good review, and I have a question: While it's true the colors won't ever look "dead on" on most monitors calibrated or not, isn't it (or is it not) true that if the colors swatches are input into the computer software and system at the right (true) gamuts and then selected by the artist the "true" color will be in the file used for prepress conversion? In other words, the color on the monitor won't be right, but the information in the file will be "right"?

This is a can of worms, so my question is a technical one about the specific fact and intentionally ignores the difficulties related to managing the technical fact for getting near true color in print reproduction. So, my first question to Trurl was intended to get at how the colors are derived in a way that they are introduced in the system at their true gamut, which is step one necessary for addressing all the can-be-nightmarish steps that follow when dealing with color fidelity for print output.

What's you take on this?

[Jim Gahl]

Hello!

It has been a while since I have checked into the Forum. It is uplifting to read everyone's participation. We are all on the same trek, are we not, in wanting to find that spot where personal creativity becomes a way of thinking, interpreting, and expressing in the form of our created art?

At first, when I started to work digitally, the prints I was getting from my Epson 2880 were disappointing. The colors, which were bright and energized on the screen became dull and somewhat lifeless and the subtle tones from the original art were change or simply gone. It was at that point that I knew there was some basic fundamentals about digital color and printing I did not get.

And after a lot of wasted paper and expensive ink, I finally got an understanding that allows me to get in print what I see on the screen most of the time.

Working with a color space on the screen is only part of the formula. Every printer has its own printable color profile which is unique to it besides the color space on the screen. Add to that is the fact that different papers also have their color profiles which are unique to them. I would say that the weakest link in this lineup is the color space of the paper. Paper canvas, for example, has a limited color rendering. And at $4.00 a pop for this paper, I want to be sure of what I will get.

Unfortunately, the paper is from my experience is the weakest link of the three. Some papers simply will not print some colors accurately. The colors sent to the paper are often out of gamut for the paper and the printer will substitute different colors that will print. (Rendering intent: Color metric, perpetual, absolute, etc.)

This is why I use PhotoShop to work with my ArtRage renderings after the art is done. PS will allow me to examine the color space of the art and match it with the color spaces available for my printer and matched to the paper of choice. I can see which colors in my art will not print on the paper I want to use accurately. In PS I can also change how the printer will handle the colors that won't print accurately (out of gamut for the paper and printer) by modifiying the rendering intent. (Also, byusing PS's Curves, Levels, Hue Saturation Settings, ect., I can correct the out of gamut colors of the art - or at least minimize them.)

If one prints to a household ink jet printer on regular Office Depot paper then the palette used to create the art probably doesn't matter. That kind of printing will likely convert our original RGB color space to the sRGB color space which the printer and paper like a lot and will gladly print. The results are pleasing to look at, but will not necessarily accurately reflect what we originally mixed on the AR canvas.

OMG- last thing. In talking with a specialist from the Golden Paints color lab, she talked about their efforts to get some kind of RGB numbers for their Full Body and Open Acrylics lines. She talked about spectrograph samplings of actual paint and how even at that level of specificity, there are variations present. So any RGB numbers are at best only an approximation. But if they won't print on Ink Press matte canvas anyway, what's the point?

Phew! You will be happy to know that this is my last post on this whole thing. I just want to paint.... and I am sure, so do you. If this was helpful to you, cool, otherwise write me off as a guy with a big ego. ;-) LOL

Jim

PS - Oh, yes, there is also a Windows program that lets one see and compare the color profiles installed on one's machine. It is useful because before I buy a piece of fine art paper, I down load the paper's color profile and examine it just to see where it falls off and which colors of the regular RGB color space will not print accurately. Um, I'll have to dig around for the web addy if anyone is interested. It is useful also for photographic papers as they also have profiles..... and on and on.

[pai]

This thread is very informative. Thanks Jim for the explanations of the true color printing and so as the sample color sets from Trurl. So I guess we can see your paintings soon, Jim.

[Rowena]

What delicious color charts, I cant wait to try them - thanks

[byroncallas]

Just following up: the charts are excellent. Thanks again.

[screenpainter]

Thanks Trurl. I had missed these. Thanks to the Sketchism thread I found them. Thanks again for these.

[Sketchism71]

I thought I commented here but I guess not... Thank you Trurl for an excellent thread and colors!!!

[jlpdelpal]

I think there is something wrong with my instalation, I can't find that directory and the people of ArtRage does not reply to my question?
Can you help me,
Thank you