How do you make vivid colours look faded?

[Phil5000]

Hi. Would anyone know how you can make vivid colours like red and blue look faded like cloth? Y'know, if you take red right out of the bottle it doesn't look like a red cloak would.

Thanks heaps.

 

[MikkoH]

Hi Phil! I use flesh tone to make colour look faded! Also earth tones are useful.

Cheers Mikko

 

[garyjd]

If you use acrylics there many reds to choose from that may be more realistic than picking one that is "fire engine red". I think basecoating is an important stage and often people basecoat with what should be the finished color. If painting red why not basecoat with a midtone? This may help in achieving that realistic look. If doing white find a light gray or blue and use white for only the highest of highlights.~Gary

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by Phil5000@Feb 2 2006, 04:55 AM
Y'know, if you take red right out of the bottle it doesn't look like a red cloak would.

Indeed, with modern high-chroma pigments this is a very important area.

The two basic techniques are adding a mixing complement - any other paint that mixes toward neutral grey with the first colour (note: sometimes there is more than one, see below) - or a neutral grey.

There's a lot of personal taste involved in how much you neutralise and the practical side is a lot more complex than this so working with specifics is helpful. Here are a few mixing pairs:
Cadmium Red Light, Phthalo Blue GS;
Phthalo Blue GS, Perinone Orange;
Permanent Rose, Phthalo Green YS;
Phthalo Green YS, Permanent Alizarin Crimson;
French Ultramarine, English Red;
Burnt Umber, French Ultramarine;
Cadmium Yellow, a mixed violet;
the same mixed violet, Yellow Ochre.

The basic pattern is colours with hues that are opposite on a proper colour wheel - blues for oranges, oranges for blues; greens for crimson-magenta, crimson-magenta for greens; violets for yellows, yellows for violet (this is the least successful in practice); brown and red earths for blues, blues for brown and red earths. For reds both blues and greens can work, depends on the actual paints, not their basic colours.

If you have two paints that 'should' mix a good neutral but don't that's just the way it is because we're mixing pigments, not colours.

Einion

 

[Jim Patrick]

Phil, I do as Enion has suggested. I knock the intensity down (of nearly almost any color) with a neutral grey. Then I use some of Mikko's technique by adding flesh for a highlight. It'll add some realistic fading to almost any color.

Let us what works for you,
Jim Patrick

 

[Yarok]

I like to tone the basecoat down with a tiny drop of light cold grey if the basecoat is blueish or black (or any cold color). If it's a warm color, then warm grey it is. Then some sand coulor in the highlights to suggest dust, a light skintone to show simple fading. Ivory could be used as well, I guess I had some fairly good results using a wood tone, too!

Trials and errors....