04-27-2014, 03:21 PM
Uhm,
I am not sure I can answer, but just add some info into the think thank: ctrl+u lighten works VERY differently than levels works; The calculations on curves was also updated in photoshop CS3 to keep some contrast aspects and works more closely to levels. Brightness/contrast was also updated on CS3 (hence the legacy option on it). So the way you're choosing to adjust the value on the color wheel may be very influencing the results you're getting.
You may be falling out of the whole gamut restriction thing.
And oh, let me add: I have tested the way to convert images to grayscale to great extent; All methods. The ones that gives me most accurate value translations to black and white is to drop a black layer on top of the image, set to color mode.
Saturation in pigments can be MUCH higher than on RGB scales.
Richard Schmid tells us to avoid mixing black and white in pigments; your colors turns chalky and muddy. If you want to lower the saturation in pigments, you will mix complimentary colors. The same is true for shadows. To go lighter, however, you do need to add white, and that does kill the saturation. You can use a very light pigment (yellow is the first example that comes to mind. Some very light and vibrant pigments there).
Ok, now about gamut masking.
Like Jaik said, it's not a color wheel but a color sphere; To properly mask it, you'd need a 3D limitation on a sphere, not a mask on a 2D plane; And since I have just finished Painting Drama 2, I can tell you we did a lot of discussion on masking gamuts.
The whole point is - color is something with 3 well distinct attributes - Value, Chroma (saturation), Hue. We tend, before ever touching color theory, to not vary one of this attributes and just run from there. It's usually saturation we keep it fairly in the middle; We try to build contrast only in value and hues. This is detrimental; The whole gamut masking thing is an exercise to use the huge shifts that saturation can achieve; grays are a powerful tool.
So the idea is to emulate the other colors outside of your gamut masking using very neutral/gray tones. It can be done, it's fun, and it gives you a rock-solid piece if done right. It's the "stop using the crayon box colors" thing.
(we have heard a LOT of how masking was NOT the way to go, it is more an exercise in perception and execution than a tool to apply to your final piece too, btw, heh).
So there is that. Color is amazingly intricate and complicated, and studying how each on the 3 aspects influence each other is a gargantuan task in itself. There is an app for the ipad called The Interactions of Color by Josef Albers that helps a lot - it has a lot of exercises designed to see all those subtleties we usually miss but are so important for painting. Take your time with those - really try to see. A lot of times its subtle, very subtle. But once you start seeing it, it's like seeing into the matrix.
I am not sure I can answer, but just add some info into the think thank: ctrl+u lighten works VERY differently than levels works; The calculations on curves was also updated in photoshop CS3 to keep some contrast aspects and works more closely to levels. Brightness/contrast was also updated on CS3 (hence the legacy option on it). So the way you're choosing to adjust the value on the color wheel may be very influencing the results you're getting.
You may be falling out of the whole gamut restriction thing.
And oh, let me add: I have tested the way to convert images to grayscale to great extent; All methods. The ones that gives me most accurate value translations to black and white is to drop a black layer on top of the image, set to color mode.
Saturation in pigments can be MUCH higher than on RGB scales.
Richard Schmid tells us to avoid mixing black and white in pigments; your colors turns chalky and muddy. If you want to lower the saturation in pigments, you will mix complimentary colors. The same is true for shadows. To go lighter, however, you do need to add white, and that does kill the saturation. You can use a very light pigment (yellow is the first example that comes to mind. Some very light and vibrant pigments there).
Ok, now about gamut masking.
Like Jaik said, it's not a color wheel but a color sphere; To properly mask it, you'd need a 3D limitation on a sphere, not a mask on a 2D plane; And since I have just finished Painting Drama 2, I can tell you we did a lot of discussion on masking gamuts.
The whole point is - color is something with 3 well distinct attributes - Value, Chroma (saturation), Hue. We tend, before ever touching color theory, to not vary one of this attributes and just run from there. It's usually saturation we keep it fairly in the middle; We try to build contrast only in value and hues. This is detrimental; The whole gamut masking thing is an exercise to use the huge shifts that saturation can achieve; grays are a powerful tool.
So the idea is to emulate the other colors outside of your gamut masking using very neutral/gray tones. It can be done, it's fun, and it gives you a rock-solid piece if done right. It's the "stop using the crayon box colors" thing.
(we have heard a LOT of how masking was NOT the way to go, it is more an exercise in perception and execution than a tool to apply to your final piece too, btw, heh).
So there is that. Color is amazingly intricate and complicated, and studying how each on the 3 aspects influence each other is a gargantuan task in itself. There is an app for the ipad called The Interactions of Color by Josef Albers that helps a lot - it has a lot of exercises designed to see all those subtleties we usually miss but are so important for painting. Take your time with those - really try to see. A lot of times its subtle, very subtle. But once you start seeing it, it's like seeing into the matrix.