What are Your Character's Colors

[Gegenji]

[align=center]"There are infinite shadings of light and shadow and colors...[/align]

[align=center]it's an extraordinarily subtle language.[/align]

[align=center]Figuring out how to speak that language is a full-time job."[/align]

- Conrad Hall

 

I've been musing again, and this may or may not be a good thing.

 

It all revolves around Chachanji's outfit. Not what top or pants or hat to use - though that can be a daunting task in and of itself - but what to dye them. My artistic skill usually floats between "passable" and "what the heck is this?", but I've been trying to improve some aspects of it. And currently that's got me thinking about colors and what they mean.

 

I like this sort of thing. The connotations Man places on various things. The meaning of flowers, the meaning of symbols on heraldry, and now the meaning of colors. You can help convey a character visually through use of color, and I've been wanting to do that for my goofball of a Lalafell.

 

After looking at a few color combinations and the meanings behind them, I've come to what I think is a good swatch that conveys Chachan, or at least what he tries to present to the world. It should be noted, though, that most of this information was taking from a page that talks about colors for home decoration, so take it as you will.

 

 

(The first just pops out because the green is close to Chachan's hair color, but I'm going into the other three.)

 

First and foremost is what I consider Chachan's primary color:

Orange. Dream Home Decorating (hereafter referred to as DHD) describes orange as the warmest color. It's a color that's emotionally stimulating, energetic, vibrant, and fun. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? In addition, the page points out that orange is also a holy color in India and Nepal - fitting for someone with dreams of being a Paladin.

 

[align=left]Following close behind is Yellow. DHD describes yellow as being optimistic and life-affirming. It's compared, understandably, to sunshine and is used to brighten up darker areas. Considering Chachan is all about being cheerful, achieving his goals, and helping others, this color also fits him well. Almost as good as orange.

 

This are both very bright, very active colors, though. He needs a color to cool him down, to match those periods of reflectiveness that he has undergone through his life. That offsetting color is, of course, Blue. More specifically, I'm leaning towards indigo, which is used in a spiritual environment (and the hue of his sword before I even started delving too deep into his color signature).

 

Of course, now that I've figured out these colors, I need to figure out which dyes will give me the colors I want. Do I want a brighter orange and a darker yellow? Vice versa? What parts of the outfit to I dye which of the colors? Pants being blue fits in a "blue jeans" kinda way, but what about the other two?

 

While I continue to muse about that, I put this question upon you all: What colors best fit your character? Can you describe them in just one color, or are they better described with two or three to really get all those nuances? Do you use them when you dye your outfits, or do you go with a different approach?

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[Berrod Armstrong]

I don't really have much of a process for working out Berrod's colors. Red and black primarily, with tan and green in little places.

[Warren Castille]

I've always tried to paint Warren in a grey sort of theme. He's a paladin, but that's muddled with flaws and imperfections and mistakes. I'm very subtle with his costuming in RP, if anyone's noticed, where ALL HE WEARS IS GREY.

 

I'm on the Luke Skywalker path here; He started wearing White armor, and his dyes have been getting dimmer and dimmer.

[Melodia]

Did someone say colors?! YUS!

 

Ruru has generally shifted to an all black motif as matches his general disposition anymore. Blacks and dark greys.

 

Melodia. Simple. Blue. Blue. Blue. Oh did someone say Blue? If you were selling pots of Storm Blue dye, I may have purchased some from you. Every outfit has that color somewhere in it. It's coordinated with her hair

[Gegenji]

I don't really have much of a process for working out Berrod's colors. Red and black primarily, with tan and green in little places.

 

Red and black are very powerful colors that go nicely together. They also both (again referring to DHD for this sort of thing) are used to imply a serious nature. Red is passionate and dangerous, while black carries the obvious connotations of death and oftentimes evil.

 

That could work well for what he wants to present to the world: someone you don't want to mess with. Someone who can break you in half if you cross them (and Berrod being a MNK, he probably could). Do you think those colors fit Berrod as a character, too?

 

... I just wanna know if I'm thinking too much about this, but that may already be a given. :blush:

 

I've always tried to paint Warren in a grey sort of theme. He's a paladin, but that's muddled with flaws and imperfections and mistakes. I'm very subtle with his costuming in RP, if anyone's noticed, where ALL HE WEARS IS GREY.

 

I'm on the Luke Skywalker path here; He started wearing White armor, and his dyes have been getting dimmer and dimmer.

 

Grey's a good choice from what I understand of Warren as a character, and a bit of what I infer from him. It can imply dull and moody or even depressing if used in excess. However, it can apparently also imply calm, understated confidence... which I've picked up several times in our RPs. I agree that grey is a very "Warren" color.

 

Did someone say colors?! YUS!

 

Ruru has generally shifted to an all black motif as matches his general disposition anymore. Blacks and dark greys.

 

Melodia. Simple. Blue. Blue. Blue. Oh did someone say Blue? If you were selling pots of Storm Blue dye, I may have purchased some from you. Every outfit has that color somewhere in it. It's coordinated with her hair

 

Haha, glad you like the topic idea.

 

Black/Grey seems to have a overlapping feeling of elegance, as well as the things I mentioned above. Many folks look quite dapper in blacks and greys.

 

Blue, as I mentioned with Chachan, can be a very reflective color. The page also assigns it to intellectualism, delicacy and daintiness, and intuitive understanding. Oh, and royalty, of course.

 

... Also, if anyone else has good color meaning links, please feel free to share. It feels odd using just a home decoration link as my point of reference.

[Whittledown]

Maudit is gigantic nerd. If he could have OS&R Rules tattoo'd across his forehead he probably would.

 

As that is not an option he has adopted Wine Red as his color of choice for all his armor and his chocobo. He has the luck to have that color look really good on him but even if it didn't he'd wear it anyway. It's all a part of his hero worship for the leader of the OS&R.

[Melkire]

Wine-red, black, wine-red and black, assorted browns, the rare green....

 

It's sad that green is him at his most colorful, and yet I haven't had an IC outfit in that color in a long time. I really need the i110 scouting gear ASAP. ; ;

[Verad]

Blue, grey, white, silver. Pretty straightforward.

[Tiergan]

Dark blue, black, white, or silver.

[Gegenji]

Blue, grey, white, silver. Pretty straightforward.

 

Dark blue, black, white, or silver.

 

Iiiiiinteresting.... :tonberry:

[Roen]

Hmm... Roen favors dark blue. Rich midnight blue. It is the color her mother favored, and she always looked up to her mother.

 

Or when she feels a bit more indulgent maybe deep purple as well. It is the color her father favored. She was a loving child who wanted so much to please her parents.

 

She favors the darker richer hues over lighter faded colors. This comes from the fact that she was a tomboy who liked to climb trees and learn sword fighting since she was young, and darker colors hid stains and scrapes better.

 

I don't purposefully dye many outfits for her thought though, she wears earthy colors and grey outfits also because she isn't rich and she isn't horribly choosy to make things fit her personal style. But if she had the choice, two colors above would be what she would lean towards.

 

She did wear white armor for awhile when she was Sultansworn (Not the paladin regalia), and still dons it when she feels the need to be fully armored. She chose white when she was within the Order because back then, she saw the Sultansworns as something akin to white knights in shining armor. And when not wearing the official armor, she wanted to emulate it as much as possible.

 

She wore a grey-blue armor before being accepted into the Order, simply because that was what she was gifted from a grateful merchant.

 

She now sports black and red now and then, reflecting colors of the Maelstrom. Since she has been hiding in Limsa when not sneaking around in Thanalan, she has taken employment with a Free Company that is affiliated with Maelstorm so she dons those colors to try and 'blend in.'

[Verad]

Blue, grey, white, silver. Pretty straightforward.

 

Dark blue, black, white, or silver.

 

Iiiiiinteresting.... :tonberry:

 

Verad has many evil twins.

 

Not all of them are Duskwights.

[Tiergan]

Blue, grey, white, silver. Pretty straightforward.

 

Dark blue, black, white, or silver.

 

Iiiiiinteresting.... :tonberry:

 

Verad has many evil twins.

 

Not all of them are Duskwights.

 

Family reunions tend to be really big and complicated.

[Gegenji]

Blue, grey, white, silver. Pretty straightforward.

 

Dark blue, black, white, or silver.

 

Iiiiiinteresting.... :tonberry:

 

Verad has many evil twins.

 

Not all of them are Duskwights.

 

Family reunions tend to be really big and complicated.

 

And dubious.

 

Anyroad! I'm honestly intrigued by a lot of these answers. A few have delved into the reasons for their colors, a few have simply listed them. Neither is wrong, of course, it's just the color lists set me to wondering. Do you choose those colors because they simply look nice, or is there an underlying meaning to them?

[Antain]

Vaughn wears a lot of deep, rich purples with gold accents. ICly, it's what he was accustomed to wearing. In his past, the color was a status symbol. OOCly, it's stupid how amazing he looks in rich purple with his golden hair and skin, and bright green eyes.

 

He also favors bright colors. Red, green, some blues, sometimes black. Never grey though. Grey depresses him.

[Yoshi]

Um, I think this is somewhat related! Walking home the other day, I was (unusually) admiring the snow fall. Normally I hate winter but the cold crispness, the soft crunch and the white silence had me thinking back to when I lived up North. My friends and I used to play make believe in the forests, and as it snowed for much of the year, we were mostly snow elves, rangers and what have you. And I just remember, and love, the hoarfrost.

And then suddenly I thought of an eskimo-esque winter survival character. And imagining her mucking around in the snow has mostly managed to distract me from my face hurting 8D. (Why do I live in a country where the air hurts my face?)

 

Soooo long story short, 

FAE IS THE COLOURS OF DECEMBER. Which would be whites and blues, blacks and grays (here, anyway.) Edit: Forgot brown. *Staring out window*

[Verad]

 

And dubious.

 

Anyroad! I'm honestly intrigued by a lot of these answers. A few have delved into the reasons for their colors, a few have simply listed them. Neither is wrong, of course, it's just the color lists set me to wondering. Do you choose those colors because they simply look nice, or is there an underlying meaning to them?

 

I wanted to look like a drow without looking like a drow. Verad's shade is sufficiently dark enough to make him obviously Duskwight, but the blue shading of his skin - accentuated by his clothing - makes him stand out from most other Duskwight males I've seen, which veer towards the brown black ends of the available skintones. This combines with the hair and the beard - which are white, typical for portrayals of drow, but the result of age rather than natural coloration - to make him appear outlandish in a crowd, even amongst his own species, heightening the effect of a buffoonish and social character.

 

Silver just provides a nice complement to all of the blue.

[Xydane Vale]

You can have any color you want as long as it's black.

[Dasair]

Oh my gosh, THIS THREAD.  Character colors are super important to me, and I am a giant nerd and have considered this quite a bit.  As an artist, I also find it really interesting when characters continually have color themes, especially if there's meaning behind them.  I've definitely considered this for Xavarian, so here's my little ramble about what his colors are:

 

Black and Gold.  (capitalized for importance)

 

Red is a close third that goes with the other two, but wouldn't ever be without the other two.  

 

Also dark blues, silver, and white are more along 'family color' lines, but black and gold are very specific to the character.

 

In explanation to what they actually mean, though, I'll stick with the primary three for Xavarian here.

 

* Black, to him, is representative of a sort of mystery.  The Unknown.  An indiscernable void that one will always find themselves closer to when trying to combine all the other colors together, but can never actually attain in its truest sense.  However, it absorbs light and heat, and holds energy; it's a place for power and retains all.  I'm unsure if it has the same social themes in Eorzea, but it is often associated with 'somthing bad', death, and an ending.  It makes people uneasy, or suspicious, because it's something they've not yet encountered; a color for hiding something.  However, Xavarian finds comfort in the color given his home in darkness, and sees it not merely as an ending, but as the start of all things. The truest part of the cycle, one that a person will either embrace or avoid, yet will always come back to where everything that one can't discern, or hasn't yet learned, resides.  

 

Xavarian covers most of himself in Black, or in a close dark equivalent if possible, and finds this fitting for any number of reasons.  It also makes him rather proud of his dark skin and hair.

 

* Gold, on the other hand, is like Knowledge.  Bright, desirable, valuable, something that draws the eye in its brilliance and contrast, and something Xavarian tries to intricately weave through the darkness of Black in ways that might slowly grow more elaborate.  Gold itself is coveted, and as society has made it so, it gives way to new things if traded.  As a color, it's an illumination, a sparkle in the darkness, something that can  be discerned, and something that would draw someone near.  Xavarian feels the direction of all life is to gain Knowledge; in experience, in interacting with things they haven't had before, everyone wants to know what it's like to have something they don't yet have.  They seek something new, and in all cases, what is new will give them more Knowledge.  The Knowledge Xavarian holds and seeks is always wound and put together in the most winding and intricate of ways.

 

Xavarian will usually either wear, design, or be drawn to things with elaborate gold accents, especially if they abound on something dark.

 

And finally 

* Red, to Xavarian, is like desire.  A powerful driving, and almost stabilizing force, that might run through unseen (like blood) or runs quite clear in the open, drawing notice from the bright, vibrant color it is.  Crimson is particularly Xavarian's 'choice red', but he views it as something of instinct, something elemental, denoting what drives someone to keep moving forward.  If Gold is what's coveted, Red is the action of coveting.  Xavarian himself has marks covering his eyes in red, because through everything else, he will see and pursue what he is after.  To him it is less something sexual, and not so much anger, but is the 'spark', the perpetuating force in all of those strong feelings.

 

Xavarian himself will occasionally wear things with splashes of red, and a number of his tattoos (the most notable being around his eyes) are bright red.

 

I'll stop there, because this is getting lengthy, but I am such a nerd about these things.  All of these are interesting to read.  *u*

[Gegenji]

You can have any color you want as long as it's black.

 

Fun and completely unrelated fact: On the British show "QI" or "Quite Interesting", this was actually pointed out to be not true. There were plenty of model colors. If I remember correctly (which I may not), black was actually one of the colors not available for purchase!

 

And that was a wonderful breakdown of your character's color identity, Dasair. Blue is, as mentioned, a thinking color as well, so even though you mentioned it only in passing, it still fits! :thumbsup:

 

I'm also liking the trend towards more detail for color choices, from Verad's attention-bringing colors to Fae's wintery theme. Vaughn even brings up the added idea of what colors your character might not wear! I haven't even thought about that with Chachan!

 

... Pink, maybe?

[Crisiet]

Greys and blues. Cold colours.

[MikoBehnen]

You can have any color you want as long as it's black.

 

Fun and completely unrelated fact: On the British show "QI" or "Quite Interesting", this was actually pointed out to be not true. There were plenty of model colors. If I remember correctly (which I may not), black was actually one of the colors not available for purchase!

 

And that was a wonderful breakdown of your character's color identity, Dasair. Blue is, as mentioned, a thinking color as well, so even though you mentioned it only in passing, it still fits! :thumbsup:

 

I'm also liking the trend towards more detail for color choices, from Verad's attention-bringing colors to Fae's wintery theme. Vaughn even brings up the added idea of what colors your character might not wear! I haven't even thought about that with Chachan!

 

... Pink, maybe?

 

Miko has no idea what her colors are... I will think on it but...

 

 

 

It's this episode :blush: I love QI

[Yhen Yizeh]

You know what it is. Black and yellow.

[Berrod Armstrong]

 

And dubious.

 

Anyroad! I'm honestly intrigued by a lot of these answers. A few have delved into the reasons for their colors, a few have simply listed them. Neither is wrong, of course, it's just the color lists set me to wondering. Do you choose those colors because they simply look nice, or is there an underlying meaning to them?

Well. Red is the only color with any significance. It comes from a few different sources, too.

 

Primarily, I usually main a redhead in MMOs (The green may come in here because I always give him green eyes).

 

Second, the previous incarnation of Berrod (World of Warcraft) saw him as Berrod Redhammer, a somewhat antagonizing character in a long story arc I ran. The Four Hammers (Redhammer, Blackhammer, Whitehammer and Greyhammer) were nods to the four horsemen of the apocalypse, with the characters embodying subtle elements of their corresponding horseman. 

 

Given that the Redhammer thing came over into this game (as a bandit alias, no less!) I decided to give him a theme of red. Not so much in the clothes he wore, but in other aspects -- his favorite color, for example. 

 

Tan, eh. It works with skin.

 

Black...black leather looks good.

[Sounsyy]

Sounsyy's character plays very well with earthy tones. Brown, grey, with maybe hints of green and orange. (Which is unintentionally reflected in her Ul'dah wardrobe.)

 

I think these colors really speak to Sounsyy's down-to-earth personality, her value of simplicity, and her relative openness for growth and new life where before there was none.