Aficionado of the Underrated and Unconventional, I appreciate the colouring tutorials you posted recently, but I would like to point out a few caveats. Hue and especially the temperature of hue are important to note. However, I would say that the tonal value of hue is equally important in and of itself, and *more* important when considering issues of accessibility for people with visual impairments. For example, a person who is not colourblind can easily see the green numbers against a red circle in a colourblindness test. But for someone who is red-green colourblind or who has decreased ability to perceive differences between certain colours, they would find it difficult to see the numbers because all the hues in the circle are approximately the same value. I think this is important to point out, because someone with blue-yellow colourblindness probably would be forced to read the hair of your figures as one seamless entity instead of having highlight and shadow, because the tone is essentially the same. This is the problem of putting two different colours side by side that have the same value. Your tutorial also advocates the use of coloured outlines. While I have no problem with this in itself, again problems with accessibility arise when the value of that colour is not very distinct from the values used in the rest of the picture. I actually desaturated your image in Photoshop, and through colour sampling found that your picture contained only about 4 distinct values (including white), and the three non-white values were adjacent to one another around the middle of the 10 point value scale. For someone with perfect vision who is easily capable of perceiving minor distinctions between values, this is not a problem. However, for someone who is visually impaired, having 4 light values set against white can be very difficult to see. Using a wider tonal range or even just two tones which contrast significantly (black and white, for example) can make an image not only more visually dynamic, but accessible too. For someone like yourself who likes to work with colour, it could be as simple as choosing colours with more contrasting values.

I appreciate the colouring tutorials you posted recently, but I would like to point out a few caveats.

Hue and especially the temperature of hue are important to note. However, I would say that the tonal value of hue is equally important in and of itself, and *more* important when considering issues of accessibility for people with visual impairments.

For example, a person who is not colourblind can easily see the green numbers against a red circle in a colourblindness test. But for someone who is red-green colourblind or who has decreased ability to perceive differences between certain colours, they would find it difficult to see the numbers because all the hues in the circle are approximately the same value. I think this is important to point out, because someone with blue-yellow colourblindness probably would be forced to read the hair of your figures as one seamless entity instead of having highlight and shadow, because the tone is essentially the same. This is the problem of putting two different colours side by side that have the same value.

Your tutorial also advocates the use of coloured outlines. While I have no problem with this in itself, again problems with accessibility arise when the value of that colour is not very distinct from the values used in the rest of the picture. I actually desaturated your image in Photoshop, and through colour sampling found that your picture contained only about 4 distinct values (including white), and the three non-white values were adjacent to one another around the middle of the 10 point value scale. For someone with perfect vision who is easily capable of perceiving minor distinctions between values, this is not a problem. However, for someone who is visually impaired, having 4 light values set against white can be very difficult to see. Using a wider tonal range or even just two tones which contrast significantly (black and white, for example) can make an image not only more visually dynamic, but accessible too. For someone like yourself who likes to work with colour, it could be as simple as choosing colours with more contrasting values.

annearchal

These are really good points, and I had actually been planning a third part which mentioned tones, for the reasons you just mentioned. That particular “Cheerleader Witches” picture is a very extreme example of vivid neon colors, and not a palette I would recommend for constant use. Even for non-colorblind people, being exposed to too much bright and same-hue artwork can be a strain on the eyes and get quite irritating after a while.

In my main work (Sister Claire) I do make an effort to use tonal contrast, for both visual and dramatic purposes. Here’s a BW version of my latest page:

I don’t usually advocate colored outlines, especially not when it comes to comics. They are not only a pain to do if you’re drawing characters over and over, but they can become rather confusing in different lighting situations. I very rarely use them myself, except in very graphic-design-y posters and such. In certain situations, they can make a very striking graphic even moreso.

But you’re right, it’s worth noting that a really good composition should also have light/dark balance. Here’s an example where it doesn’t quite work:

Even when completely desaturated, you can still clearly make out the picture. However, without color, the composition is significantly weakened. This composition relied HEAVILY on the contrast of red and green (which are opposites on the color wheel) but these would be seen as the same color to a colorblind person, making the composition very flat and muddy to them. Like you said, some hue variation could remedy this, if one was aiming to make accessible artwork.

A situation where I WOULD recommend colored outlines is when drawing glowing objects, while keeping the rest of the composition with regular black outlines:

Even with no saturation, the composition is still quite strong. The tone allows the glowing effect to still work.

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