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Submitted: May 29, 2012
Image Size: 1.2 MB
Resolution: 2431×1860

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Color Wheelby *SailorPtah

Digital Art / Drawings / People

Although the shading in But I'm A Cat Person — and even the simpler illustrations — usually doesn’t get subtle enough to show it, the characters are meant to cover a range of skin tones. Here’s the gradation that happens when I make the effort.

Sparrow’s a pretty average white Jewish person. Camellia’s background is Middle Eastern, so she has similar features, though her skin is darker.

I waffled about Poe’s hue for a while, since he’s clearly supposed to be eye candy and there’s a whole complex media history about black male romantic leads and their relative lightness compared to their female counterparts. On the other hand, his form right now is shaped by Miranda’s preferences, and eventually I decided she’d like him a few shades darker. Tall and leggy, too.

Bianca’s the standard, the one in terms of which I think of all the others. She’s also the character who’s been hit on the most so far.

Cybele is the darkest, and the one who gives me the most fits of “uh-oh, am I shading her right? Because if I screw this up, it’ll be reeeeeeally unfortunate.” There are a lot of reference pictures involved. Also, knocking wood.

(Constructive criticism is very much appreciated, by the way! On the shading, or anything else that catches your eye.)

Originally posted on the BICP Tumblr, because we have one of those now.

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~thngwhtsqks Jun 9, 2012

Overall this is a lovely, well composed and executed piece. I like the how the various heights of the characters flows without seeming choppy, and their positioning curved around a table, particularly well done with the four on the right. I also love the combination of popping dimensional color with mostly flat grays, but Camellia seems to suffer floating head syndrome unlike the others because she lacks highlights in her hair plus more visible neck. Other than those two tiny details, the only real critique I'd offer is that the title is misleading since the theme is really light/dark and not hue (though that would be a lovely picture too, I'd love to see the differences in underlying red, blue and yellow).

*SailorPtah Jun 9, 2012 Professional Digital Artist

Yeah, I kind of screwed up Camellia's pose there...oh well.

The title's supposed to be a play on "people of color." My eye is not nearly subtle enough to work out the underlying hues and be consistent about it, unfortunately ^_^; (Maybe someday a fanartist will take up the idea...)

~jazzknh May 30, 2012

Oh look at all the lovely people! Also, damn I hope my hair gets long enough to where I can put it in braids.

*SailorPtah May 30, 2012 Professional Digital Artist

Thanks

And best of luck with the hair caretaking!

*puff222001 May 30, 2012 Hobbyist General Artist

I assume that Patrick is about the same hue as Sparrow and that's why he's not included?

*SailorPtah May 30, 2012 Professional Digital Artist

Yep. There aren't any substantial differences among most of the white characters.

~createacomic May 29, 2012

It'd be good to slip Park in there. Depending on her sun exposure and heritage, Asians can range from tanned Caucasian to darker Polynesian.

*SailorPtah May 30, 2012 Professional Digital Artist

She's Korean, and doesn't get out in the sun much, so she's basically the same lightness as Sparrow.

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