The award-winning painter and illustrator explains how to improve your technical skill set with colour and composition.
(Image credit: Greg Manchess)
An effective use of colour, contrast, value and composition is key to creating impactful visuals. It can be challenging, but I think focusing on a few key things can make all the difference.
Greg has been a freelance illustrator for over 45 years. He has won awards for his work in movies, comics and more. He was inducted into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame in 2024.
Contrast values, shapes, scale and colour. Vary and contrast elements across a composition by making things large against small, complex vs simple, dark vs light, colourful vs toned down, shiny vs dull, and so on.
Allow forms to stagger and vary, rather than all lining up evenly. This builds a rhythm through the composition that the viewer likes to follow. Lead the audience to the focus of the composition by overlapping and clumping elements in a pleasing line through the image.
Find the moment, don’t just pose a figure. A pose is meant to present something, but doesn’t communicate much of a story or build much curiosity. Get your figures moving in a composition by choosing a moment of movement rather than a moment of pause. This goes for action images, too.
Paint across forms, don’t follow them. Brushstrokes should cut across legs, arms, face shapes, drapery and the like. Vary the brushwork, which builds volume. Train this way, and later you’ll be able to follow forms when your brushwork improves. Remember, following the form is shape-based and flat, while cutting across the form is form-based and sculptural.
Delay using straight whites until the very last, and even then do so sparingly. Always mix a little colour into the white as you paint layers on forms, especially on skin, just for now. Later you’ll find plenty of ways to use straight white in a composition.
Greying a colour can deaden it. Work around the colour wheel and not across to keep colours fresh and exciting. You’ll learn faster how to contrast greyed and bright colours, and then understand how to work across the wheel or diagram.
New painters can be afraid to use a lot of colour. It can look flat, without the illusion of depth, if only one or even two are employed. For more depth, add a third colour to the mixture or the overall scheme. This can be done by changing the temperature. Contrast a warm blue with a cool blue, for example.
This content originally appeared in ImagineFX magazine, the world's leading digital art and fantasy art magazine. ImagineFX is on sale in the UK, Europe, United States, Canada, Australia and more. Limited numbers of ImagineFX print editions are available for delivery from ouronline store (the shipping costs are included in all prices).
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Greg has been a freelancer for over 45 years and won awards for his work in movies, comics and more. He was inducted into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame in 2024.
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