Trying out some colors

[hrj]

Through the magic of Photoshop (and some template construction by my Photoshop-savvy downstairs tennant) I can try out some sample color schemes for the house without having to slap paint on the walls. These are quite rough -- I'm not so good at the whole color-tweaking process, and it took a lot of trial and error to figure out how to do the global color-substitution on the various layers. But here are some sketches :

Here's one that C. put together based on the color chip we'd been talking about -- a sort of burgundy for the trim and a paler version of the same for the walls.



Here's my attempt to do something similar, with a slightly bluer version of the purple -- not so successful. Way too PURPLE.



But here's one where I was trying out a combination of a more greenish-tinged gray for the walls, with burgundy trim.



And just for fun, here's the previous, but with the trim done in a darker version of the color range used for the walls. Nice, but a bit too similar to the color scheme of the house I grew up in (which probably imprinted itself a bit too firmly on my color-sense).



The computer manipulation is slow enough for me that I don't think I'm going to do too many more versions. (And I'm getting a little frustrated at how hard it is to make it do the color I'm visualizing.) I'm running into the same problem I have with choosing clothes: I want to try something "different" but only a limited range of possibilities feels right. But I rather like both #1 and #3 -- possibly #3 a bit more, but maybe that's just because I did that one myself. What do you-all think?

Comments

[aryanhwy.livejournal.com]

I love these! I want a house like this and paint it these kinds of colors!

I'm definitely for #3. #2 is too pink, and #1 is too red. Go purple!

[hrj.livejournal.com]

Ok, that's odd. I get the full width of the images when I go to comment mode, but not when viewing the entry under regular mode. Oh well.

[sarahbellem.livejournal.com]

#3 is so visually striking. That would probably be my vote, if only because I love stark and simple contrasts. My mom drove me crazy recently when, upon showing me her choices for painting her house, laid out half a dozen subtle tints of the same pale green and asked me to chose which ones went best. She intended to use about three different colors for the house, and I hated all of them. Too subtle, too blended, not enough contrast, too fussy... Ugh. Just give me one light color and one dark color and I'm happy. :)

[ritaxis.livejournal.com]

I like the top and bottom best. But I thinkI'd like both of them better with less contrast: I think I mean a slightly less dark and saturated purple trim for the top and for the siding on the bottom, a slightly darker, slightly warmer, and no more saturated (in effect, I mean: I suspect that the actual saturation of pigment in base is an entirely different matter).

But I'm contrary, sometimes, not on purpose.

[hrj.livejournal.com]

It's hard for me to get a lot of shading nuance in the photoshop. Upping the color intensity of the siding tends to create too great a variation between the highlighted parts and the shadows, with the shadows ending up the same color as the trim. I don't quite want the "candy colored" effect of having the siding a very medium version of the trim color, but I don't want the siding to be so pastel as to be essentially white. That's part of what I'm aiming for with bringing a different hue in for the siding as well as a different intensity.

[kahnegabs.livejournal.com]

I really like the purple trim with the colored walls. The green is good too,but I favor the purple, just 'cause it's so different.

Green is Different

[scotica.livejournal.com]

I like the green best -- and it is the most different from your current house colors. However, if you want something similar to what you already have now, #1 and #3 are better than #2, with #1 being more subtle than #3 but #3 being more different from the current scheme (as I recall that scheme) -- probably because it isn't as subtle.

Re: Green is Different

[hrj.livejournal.com]

Ah, but the green is too similar to the house I grew up in (color, not structure), so for me it doesn't count as "different enough". I think I like the trim color better in #1, and a darker version of the siding in #3.

[(Anonymous)]

FWIW, I like 2 & 4 best, with a slight preference for 3. These seem more cheerful than the others. The green mixes nicely with the plants and your trashcans stand out less.

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

I like the green, but 1 & 3 somehow feel more suitable for the house.

And I gather you have a tree surgeon coming soon..

(What does the house look like at the moment?)

[hrj.livejournal.com]

See my next post for the original colors. The trees I'm having cut are all in the back yard -- you can't see any of them in these pictures. In fact, I had a chat with the property owner this afternoon about the stuff I'm planning to cut and we're all good about it.

[loup_noir]

The last two, especially the green. On my monitor, number two is really garish. The first one is pretty, but I like the last two better.

[hrj.livejournal.com]

#2 is pretty garish all the way around.

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

I like the purple, because it's a color I'm NOT accustomed to seeing on a house but that looks right on yours.

Great house, BTW...

[hrj.livejournal.com]

Thanks -- the house would look even better if it still had all its original gingerbread (which would also give me more to play with in the color scheme). Purple houses aren't all that rare around here -- it's the whole "painted ladies" thing people do with their Victorians. So it isn't as outlandish as it might be in other parts of the country.

[dame-cordelia.livejournal.com]

I like the trim on #01 and #03, and for the main color, something lighter than #01 and more color than #03.

#02 hurts my eyes, and I finally figured out the lack of roof shadows is what makes that version so bright.