Grayscale To Color Art Process ... and why I don't use it

Learn about the grayscale to color digital painting process and important art fundamentals along the way! Technique talk and painting fundamentals.
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[marcobucci]

I hate to admit this, but that 'bat' pun at 15:40 was not intentional. But talk about your happy accidents!

[ianna]

I have another suggestion: While working in Photoshop, go to: Window--> Arrange --> Another window for (your image). It creates an identical image beside it, in another tab. You can turn that image into grayscale by going to: View --> Proof Setup --> working gray. This way, you're painting in colours while watching your values. It's the best way I've found.

[Zombie-gdfw]

This video contains more knowledge than all hours of painting class on the 1st year of my studies together. Thank you.
EDIT. Omg, I didn't know there are so many people in similar situation. :O Hope you progress every day~

[Blacksunshine]

I'm amazed! This guy is not your average "how to draw" youtuber. We got some clean and analytic explanation useful for even professionals. Not to mention the incredible illustrations and real time examples making it so easily understandable. I wish you were my mentor. Hats off!

[a.krishna]

I actually...find gray scale - color more difficult, I don't get how ppl do it, because the color afterwards never turn out how I want it

[Novanim]

Marco Bucci just single-handedly saved thousands of dollars worth of art classes to most art students in the worlds with this amazing video.

[thiagoolive]

it's amazing how you get straight to the point of the topics that we students want to know (but nobody explained) ... just THANK YOU very much!!! (your book is unbelievable)

[autumn]

a lot of people say grayscale to color is very easy to beginner, but I think, its work only for artist that already has a very good understanding about color

[leileaves]

I watched this years ago and as a result, I stopped trying to push grayscale to color method. Now we're here and found that it's the best method for me! I agree with the reasons why grayscale to color doesn't feel right like about controlling the edges. So what I did was I just added my own twist in the technique. Instead of rendering the drawing in grayscale, I apply the color layer first (I use soft light instead color layer mode), then I make a new layer where I render the values + colors. That way I have more control! I do have a video of my digital art process so if you're interested you can check it out. You just really need to find a way to make things work sometimes. I struggle a lot with colors that's why I chose to give this method another try!

[SylvesterMassey]

Always waiting for Marco Bucci's color theory videos !

[JaelBreton]

Wow! After all these years of trying to understand or trying to accept coloring from greyscale to color, I finally found the answer! Many artists encourage this method but I always struggled because it never felt complete or cohesive. So many extra steps just to include color. Sometimes I'd rather just keep it greyscale and call it finish. But I love color.

Another answer you gave me that I didn't even know I was looking for was how to start with color. I was mind blown when you mentioned you started with neutral colors and added more or less saturation based on how you felt along the way. That's such an amazing way, I must try. Thank you so much for this video. It's just what I needed to start changing.

[alleycatblues]

THANK YOU. I learned Digital Painting in school doing the greyscale to color method and It always felt off. I forced myself to do it because that is how I was taught. I not only hated how my pieces were turning out, I really disliked the process... I feel that's something important that artists don't talk about enough. Once I shunned what I was taught and started digitally painting straight to color, it was fun again. My work has increased and so has my mental state, haha!

[corylcreates]

"The way your process feels to you has a significant outcome."

I think this sums up why some people love this technique and others don't.

I struggle with value and identifying value (maybe I'm just a bad artist), so taking the time to focus on shadows and light helps me to improve my sense of form in a painting.
It also helps me to not use flat colours in a cel-shading style. I get the option to practice blending edges, paying attention to light and shadow, and focusing on form and shape. When I move to the colour, I don't use Overlay, Multiply, or Color; I use Light layers (soft light, hard light, etc.) and those act different as well. I get the chance to see how the colour works in the value and adjust based on my eye. My process doesn't take a saturated colour, smear it over the values, and then call it done.

I have a very different way of painting than you do. Your art uses lots of textured brushes to add accents, and that's not how I paint. I don't need to add colour to a halftone brush or a broken glass brush, because that's not part of my process. I use fewer than three brushes in my art.
Your technique, however, relies on those splashes of coloured texture for the "expression" in your image. The techniques you demonstrated to do colour are glazing, and that's not everyone's process either.

I'm paused right now at 12:18 just because what you said really made me want to say all this. :P

It's very interesting to see your process and how different it is to mine.

[starfart]

"I kinda feel like I'm painting on glass or something"
Artists who paint on glass: I will pretend I didn't see this

[KatBlaque]

THANK YOU. I tried this technique the other day (I paint in color) and it was so frustrating and I couldn't igure out why. Was hard for me to not feel like a failure. ._.

[anima]

Another thing you didn't mention (I think) is drawing straight with color but having a pure black layer on top that is set to saturation(this turns it into grayscale without changing the values like desaturating normally does). Then you can enable this layer from time to time to see your values and disable again to continue painting in color.

[SleepyMatt-zzz]

I wish I had teachers like you in university. Your audio book gave me a lot to think about. Especially the "art is not academia" line.

[shawn.m.schmidt]

Both approaches are correct to the purpose of a particular piece. The benefit of the grisaille technique, when done traditionally, is it can let an inner light created in the monochromatic layer come through the glazing that just isn't quite possible when working with opaque color. That being said I haven't been able to work out the same effect when working with digital paints. The commentary is a valid perspective. But, so is working in value first, in the right setting.

[hazelhen]

colour is by far the most daunting aspect of a picture for me. Maybe its because I'm colourblind.
I often run into a wall where my colours don't look quite right, even to me, when I start greyscale - but I can actually finish an image without stressing so much haha

[RalvinTY]

I'm at the beginner stage. That is why I am using values for now. Since back when I was a total noob. I just pringled colors into my art like a maniac. So, I just wanted to understand values much more. So, I chose to work with values.