How to get a colors compliment?

[HwyStar]

Is there any easy way in ArtRage to get a colors "exact" compliment? Using one of the color wheel options?

Blue's compliment = Orange, etc.

[Enug]

Perhaps you could make your own - something like this?

[HwyStar]

Thanks for the idea June!

I was hoping there was an easy way in one of the color dialog panels to do this. VAFR Hannah? (Value Added Feature Request).

I paint mostly in pastels, and with traditional pastels we will many times paint the paintings with washes in the first layer. Usually, the best colors to block in on the wash are the final layers compliment colors. Blue sky, block in wash is painted in orange. It would be nice to select the blue sky color then very easily select the compliment. VAFR?

[HannahRage]

Take a look at the custom color pickers and color samples collections; there are some complementary ones in there (and it's easy to create new ones). You can also switch to the Tint/Tone picker which is a circle, so it's easy to switch to the opposite color as needed.

[sueellen]

There are several online tools for finding true complements/triads, etc if you want exact numerical values. I think that to get an exact complement, use the color-picker to look at the RGB values for the color you want to complement, then subtract each from 255. I made an orangey-yellow of R-233/B-172/G-005 and discovered that the blue complement was R-022/B-083/G-250: but, ugh. Not quite what I wanted. It happens that the "exact" complement isn't always lovely. You might find that it's enough to use HannahRage's idea of using the Tint/Tone picker and use your artist's eye to grab a color on the opposite side. But your VAFR sounds like a lot of fun, to have a color dialog to make the calculations for you and give you a pinpoint value to work with... cool idea.

[HwyStar]

Good ideas and thoughts Hannah and Sue Ellen!

I guess you are correct Hannah, by using the Tint/Tone circle you can select your blue color and visualize where it is on the wheel very easily (orange).

I am always trying to make the software faster and easier to use so we don't have to think about the tool and just paint. Want a compliment? Click a button, Secondary? Same. Tertiary? Click a button. Being able to select color wheel colors/values using the alt-key; select color then modify it by using a standard color wheel algorithm would be great.

Another idea: Give an easy to use/keyboard shortcut to taking the entire painting and blurring it out (with a set blurring value of our choice in preferences). Just like the filter blur layer feature works but assign a keystroke to it. Like H or V does. Check your painting's values? Press the "~" key and the painting is momentarily blurred for value checking! Painters paint just as much with values in comparison to colors by blurring their vision.

[HannahRage]

Of course at some point one runs out of buttons

There's also this option which isn't a perfect circle, but might help you speed things up. Hold CTRL + ALT (or CMD + OPT on macs) and click the canvas and it will pop up right underneath your stylus.