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Hue shifting vs color ramps

Printed From: Pixel Joint
Category: The Lounge
Forum Name: Resources and Support
Forum Discription: Help your fellow pixel artists out with links to good tutorials, other forums, software, fonts, etc. Bugs and support issues should go here as well.
URL: https://pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=15138
Printed Date: 08 April 2026 at 12:35pm


Topic: Hue shifting vs color ramps
Posted By: Vell123
Subject: Hue shifting vs color ramps
Date Posted: 20 September 2012 at 2:31pm
Hi,
Correct me if I'm wrong but about the topic but I want to know something referring to both topics. At what point does a pixel artist need to or should use hue shifting as opposed to color ramps and vice versa and why? I remember reading a tutorial about both and it said something like hue shifting helps the pixel art kind of pop out in a sense. So thats my question.



Replies:
Posted By: jeremy
Date Posted: 20 September 2012 at 3:43pm
Accidentally deleted what I wrote, but in essence you often use hue shifting in colour ramps to create a greater level of contrast, avoid a dull colour ramp and to try and replicate that kinda Impressionist idea that highlights are complementary to shadows. Like for tree foliage, you might use warm greens in the highlight because the light from the sun is yellow, and blue-greens (or even purples, to push it to the extreme) in the shadows to replicate scattered blue light from the sky/give the yellow highlights higher contrast.

I think I'm right in saying that using drastically different hues next to each other in a ramp isn't considered hue-shifting, but rather an experimental thing or out of necessity from using a set palette (also to neutralise etc., but I don't have a great understanding of that)

Like in this piece here, where the cheekbones are orange next to green skin.
http://www.pixeljoint.com/files/icons/ballsavatar.png">


Posted By: Vell123
Date Posted: 20 September 2012 at 3:55pm
Thanks for the response. It helps. I think I have an idea of what you mean.


Posted By: 1337B337
Date Posted: 23 September 2012 at 4:05pm
I dunno, the green on the skin just make's the skin look unnatural.

I feel it has to do with the hardness/texture of the object in question;

Less hue shifting for softer surfaces and more hue shifting for harder surfaces.

I'm speaking purely out of realism, there's no wrong way to make art!


Posted By: beef_x
Date Posted: 25 September 2012 at 6:21am
Light as your eyes see it is made up of many colors, not just a straight light/dark ramp.  Hue shifting is a good way to mimic the play of light.


Posted By: AlexHW
Date Posted: 25 September 2012 at 10:16am
in order to mimic, you have to understand it.. Studying light will always help with your art. Don't hue shift simply to hue shift otherwise you'll just create a habit and never question what you're doing. Good artists always question their work and try to see all the angles involved with it and make corrections where necessary.



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