A question on color, and I know there are a) color experts here, b) people who speak RGB, Hue, and Saturation, and c) people with a good eye for design. Taupe is a tricky color, and I've looked at so many swatches online and in RL, I can no longer figure out what I'm looking at. One's too brown, the next too gray, the next downright tan (a color I do not like).

Reason: I'm about to paint my living room. I once got all artsy and decided rose walls with a lighter ceiling would be a good idea. shudder A month later, and a gallon of Kilz, the room went gray. (Do not ever try for a "lighter rose". It comes out bubble gum pink.)

I'll post a render in a while of where the room's going. The good thing about using CG is being able to visualise when you have no taste. LOL

to me, taupe is a tan with a very marked red tint to it. Almost like a medium rosey flesh tone.

So, tan with more red (almost purplish)...lol.

Laurie

I'm a guy so it's not even a real colour to me. ;)  

I know blue, green, red, yellow, black, white and because I'm a modern man I'll even admit purple exists. ;)

Seriously, though, Wikipedia (if you can trust it) has a section on Taupe - yes, really! - which describes and shows several variations.  Looks like you'll have to be absolutely exact in order to get the match you require.

As a final decorating tip, I strongly advise against painting your ceiling any other colour than white unless you want your room to look unbelievably dingy.  Even a faint off white will reduce the amount of light by a dramatic amount. 

Sam, don't forget that not quite white but not quite red color some women's panties are.  Plus you are supposed to know the colors of your favorite sports team.  For me that's white, teal, and orange.

I searched in Google images for 'Taupe' and got a wide range of different colors. I suggest you do the same, pick the one that looks right, save it, open it in Photoshop or whatever and measure the values.

Does this strike anyone as Taupe? Or is it just gray?

looks like a warm gray to me (warm=more red, less blue whereas cool gray is more blue, less red). Confusing, ain't it? LOL

Laurie

Laurie - True greys are achromatic so there's really no such thing as a warm grey if you want to be precise.

Scanmead - The pic you posted is, IMO a fair stab at a sort of Taupe.  I did say "sort of" because it's most likely not everyone's idea.

 Nother thing you should consider is - as you probably know - additive colour synthesis (Monitors and so on) will always give different results from subtractive colour synthesis, such as mixing paint.

Winterclaw - My team's colours are Royal Blue, White, Black.  Real man's colours, them. :) 

Laurie, I'm gonna look at warm grays now. ;)

Sam, that's the problem: there's really no such color as taupe. It's more of a concept. LOL  What I plan to do is find the color online, then use the paint chips from the box store, and hold them up to my monitor. That way I won't have to be shocked when the RGB values don't match what I see on the screen. This goes back to "does everyone see blue the same way I do" from grade school.

Now I remember why I quit rendering: render settings. blech.

Well, there are most definitely warm and cool grays (I took color theory in Commercial Art school) but there are also neutral grays that are nothing but shades of black and white ;). I suppose you could argue that gray can't be a color only a shade, but I guess if you consider that there is barely enough color to actually say it's anything but gray, then it's gray...lol.

Laurie

Quote - Well, there are most definitely warm and cool grays (I took color theory in Commercial Art school) ...

Me too, or rather, Graphic Design.  Same difference.  Nevertheless, true greys are achromatic.  If it has a bias towards another colour, it ain't grey, no matter what it's called for convenience.

Well, no matter...the fashion and wall covering industries just love the warm/cool/neutral grays...lol. I guess it 'sounds' good :P

Laurie

Quote - Reason: I'm about to paint my living room. I once got all artsy and decided rose walls with a lighter ceiling would be a good idea. shudder A month later, and a gallon of Kilz, the room went gray. (Do not ever try for a "lighter rose". It comes out bubble gum pink.)

And the problem with bubble-gum pink is??? :biggrin:

No, I agree - that would be a bit off-putting to wake up to.

Quote - And the problem with bubble-gum pink is??? :biggrin:

That it's pink!! LOL

Laurie

I think of taupe as shark colour, more nurse shark than tiger shark.

An Oceanic Whitetip at a depth of 2 fathoms, off the Bahamas, 15:37 hours,  April 14th, photographed from 10ft away at iso320, F5.6, 1/125th, facing north... thats taupe! 

Ditto Sam on the white ceiling.  Couple years ago my back room was remodeled to repair water damage, and the builders left the wallboard off the ceiling for a while to let the wood dry out.   During that period I couldn't see anything in the room!  With white wallboard on the ceiling, a 60-watt bulb in a wall fixture was plenty bright; with only dark wood above, the light had absolutely no effect.  Turn it on, turn it off, no difference.

Also, a darker than white ceiling makes the ceiling look lower :P.

Laurie

What designer said "No white walls!"? And the ceiling is the 5th wall. I left the ceiling white for a while, but found it distracting, especially with the very saturated rose walls. But desat does not always play nice, as I found out. ;)

Bubble gum pink is fine, just not on walls or ceilings. My sister at age 10 had a Barbie pink bedroom. Every last thing in that room was pink. At age 14 she switched to yield-sign yellow with Indian prints. Every last thing was radioactive yellow or poo brown.

That shark analogy is interesting. I'll have to google some images.

Why can't I get a freakin' render with no noise out of Vray?! Vray doesn't do noise... grrrr...