Current Events > What's a good colour scheme for an alien character?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'm considering pale grey and dark blue.
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Purple and pale blue

Green skin, black eyes.
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Purple and green or teal

Mikablu posted...

Purple and pale blue

...not gonna lie, I really like this one. Has a sort of otherworldly feel to it.

But at the same time, I tend to overuse the colour blue and I kind of want to avoid purple/pink... argh, but it's such a perfect combo for the character...
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What kind of environment do they live in?
Indoors or outdoors?
Nocturnal or diurnal?
Etc.

Think about who the alien is first and figure out what they look like later.
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What kind of vibe are you going for?
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ChromaticAngel posted...

Think about who the alien is first

Already have.

weapon_d00d816 posted...

What kind of vibe are you going for?

Antagonistic, powerful, overwhelming, but not necessarily villainous.
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DK9292 posted...

Antagonistic, powerful, overwhelming, but not necessarily villainous.

Pale navy blue and silver. That would give me a kind of authoritarian oppressor vibe.
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weapon_d00d816 posted...

DK9292 posted...

Antagonistic, powerful, overwhelming, but not necessarily villainous.

Pale navy blue and silver. That would give me a kind of authoritarian oppressor vibe.

Interesting. Not far from what I suggested in the OP, too.
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What's the format? Drawing? Story?

If it's the latter then I'd go with something really out-there, like shifting colors based on how you look at it (or just shimmering between them at random), as if it's so separate from what us humans can comprehend that our eyes/mind don't know how to handle what it's seeing.
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LinksLiege posted...

What's the format? Drawing? Story?

If it's the latter then I'd go with something really out-there, like shifting colors based on how you look at it (or just shimmering between them at random), as if it's so separate from what us humans can comprehend that our eyes/mind don't know how to handle what it's seeing.

Probably a story. Though part of me hopes to make it a game.
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You could have some real fun with it then, compared to a single static image.

Something like, rather than seeing what it is, only being able to perceive the effect its presence has on the world around it. I have something like that in a story I wrote - it can make for a much more unnerving character.
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LinksLiege posted...

You could have some real fun with it then, compared to a single static image.

Something like, rather than seeing what it is, only being able to perceive the effect its presence has on the world around it. I have something like that in a story I wrote - it can make for a much more unnerving character.

Not sure that could work, considering the role the alien plays. Still, i do kinda want to do a Giygas-style alien in at least SOME work, just not this one.
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Greens and purple are generally the colors associated with aliens. It really depends on the type of aliens though (or what sort of 'hat' they wear). For examples, Klingons are associated with red because they are a militaristic warrior culture. The Cabal of Destiny are the same. Whereas the Delvians of Farscape are blue and are associated with spiritual aspects or psionic power, and the Asari of Mass Effect are generally associated with blue and take it in the other direction (materialist culture, high technology, thoughtful, logical).

Basically, any basic color can be associated with an alien and the more aliens you have, the more diverse color scheme you will have. If it just one foreign species, though, it is likely to end up with green or purple glowing, with blue being another somewhat popular choice (especially when the aliens are arriving in a somewhat modern period eg; Independence Day, Close Encounters, etc, likely due to our association of blue with 'energy' and the way 'energy' technology is used to contrast them with our more ballistic based technology. It is also used sometimes to represent emotionless aliens contrasting to the human 'red', especially in films like Independence day where the aliens are portayed as insectoid consuming hives).