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Ranarh β Tiny tips: Water - Colour
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Published: 2012-01-20 13:52:41 +0000 UTC; Views: 24857; Favourites: 904; Downloads: 423
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Tumblr | Facebook | Etsy | Artstation | InstagramThe third part about painting water. This time about its colour; since water essentially acts as a reflective surface in most paintings, it can be trickier than you think. Just going with blue to paint water isn't enough. As always, looking at references will help a great deal.
The tutorial talks about both the colour under water as the colour of the surface; the first is easier to paint as it doesn't variate as much under different lighting conditions.
Also see Part One: Water - Waves ranarh.deviantart.com/art/Tinyβ¦
and Part Two: Water - Reflections ranarh.deviantart.com/art/Tinyβ¦
"Ranarh's tiny tips" is a collection of iddy-biddy tutorials, each containing small bites of advice anyone can chew, aimed at beginner's level artists. They are not software-dependent. If there's a problem you have, something you feel someone should finally explain, or are just curious what I have to say on a particular artistic issue, feel free to tell me.
You'll find the whole Tiny Tips Collection, plus some full-grown walkthroughs in my tutorial section .
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Comments: 44
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this whole series is really helpful, thank you! 
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That is the nicest thing you could've said. Thank you!
You are welcome.
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This is going to be really helpful for me, thank you!
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these seem like great tutorials on water (i've been to all three) can i add them to my group? i'm adding them now, you should get the requests.
also, another tutorial on water would be great: falling water (waterfalls, faucets) different intensities- for instance (as far as i've noticed) water running powerfully will look much whiter while a trickle or a slow steady stream is more clear, transparent and reflective. i'd love to know your thoughts on the matter (and maybe another lovely tutorial 
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I already thought about doing such a tip. It just moved a few places up in my list.
sneak peek: Next one will be "a mouthful"
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Excuse me but would I follow the same pattern with a water drop?
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Water drops are usually even more colourless, if we are not speaking about drops of coffee or ink. A drop is more like a gem than a water surface. You will have to look out for the following:
A water drop casts a shadow on the ground on its lighted side. This is surprising, but true; after all, a water drop has thickness and blocks a little light. It also casts a smaller shadow on the ground on the side away from the light, and has a glossy, sharp highlight on the lit side.
Then refraction has to be taken into account, the effect that light appears brighter than the source because it is bundled, like with a magnifiying glass, or the patterns you see on the ocean floor in shallow water (remember that highlights can never be brighter than the light source; but refraction can bundle light and thus make spots that indeed are brighter than the source. Transparent materials like water and glass do this, as you can observe when putting a drinking glass in sunlight). Most of the time, the refracted light will appear inside the drop, raising saturation and brightness in that spot (if the light has a very low angle, the light can also be cast outside the drop).
This is all concerning a drop in a closeup. I recommend looking at some makro photos - I'm sure they're easy to find. If you need drops from further away, a small shadow on either side and a sparkly highlight will probably do. If your water is coloured, simply think about how transparent the water remains; the more particles, the less transparency.
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This is a lovely guide!
I will definitely be referring to it.
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Thank you so much for these tiny tips. They really help me!
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This is very helpful, and your work is lovely!
But I can't help but say that water really does have a colour. 
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Thank you very much.
It is indeed so, that the chemical substance water is colourless. There are however a lot of factors that can make it appear to have a colour, especially minerals solved in the water can give it a tint. Tiny particles in water in front of a dark background will make it appear blue, like blue eyes don't actually have a colour but have tiny particles in front of the black background.
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Really? Wow. You learn something new every day
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Well you can have it: Poseidon AOE -- I'm layouting my tutorials in GIMP
(You really DON'T want my handwriting 
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Thanks! I use GIMP, too.
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Uh, unless of course it IS a font, in which case nevermind.
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