What I did with a new-style keep

Pawain

Petra_Fyde said:

If it helps at all my 'water' is made from dyed carpet tiles rather than goza mats, gives that more textured look, both the carpet and the copper stair 'water falls' were dyed with Wind Azul dye.

Those are the plain Red Carpets.  I found out last night that the plain Blue Carpets dye a darker color from the same tub.

I did not like the Wind Azul color.  I dont know if that also depends on the starting carpet.

Pawain

The Blue Carpet makes a different color when using the Blue Azul. But does not match the ocean water either.

And neither will match the Dragon Carpet. One is too light, the other too dark.

Arron

Can you use the deco tool to find out what the ocean water colour is? Then use dyes and a dye tub to reproduce that colour? I would test it but I am at work at the moment.

Petra_Fyde

I did a bit of experimenting, not sure if I've succeeded, judge for yourself:



Selecting the options in the red boxes of the metallic cloth tub, on the carpet tile shown, gives the result in the top right corner.

Arron

I think the colour is close but not quite there yet. The Carpet seems a little more blue to me. However, it could be the monitor I am using at work. The Ocean seems to have a touch more black to it, IMO of course.

Pawain

Thanks @Petra_Fyde ; Please don't tell me I have to change all my carpets.  Ill check  to see if I like that one.  They look the same to me in EC in that pic.  I was also experimenting with some of the carpets with designs.  We could use some grass, water, swamp alternative colors that we can use when we run out of those tiles.

I'm about to put some stuff in the open area now.  Want to get another picture in before the clutter begins.  The 5 tiles are the Blue Azul on the blue plain carpet.  They look too purple for me. My original color is growing on me.




The Plain Red carpet looks like about as close as I could have the patience to get.  WTG Petra!  The water in CC is 2 toned, it matches one of the colors and the other is real close when you use the design carpet.  That design you have is the brownish carpet. The blue design one and plain blue carpet are very dark blue when you use that color.

Now we need a grass green to save some grass tiles.

Pawain

I think I am done with the base design.  I ran out of grass tiles so I used the T rex tiles for now.

Pawain

A player on LS says I need to use more flooring. First Ill show a few pics of his Castle then my finished Keep with flooring.

Pawain

Here is my New Keep:

Ill list the floor colors from top left clockwise.
Light Bronze  Light copper  Med Copper  Dark Copper

2nd Floor  Luna white square areas  Dryad Green with Nox Green accents, Agapite Porch.
Lucky for me the Deceit  armor Undead Kin matched the floor I did the weekend before.
3rd Floor  Plant dye Blue. Invulnerability Blue, Light Valorite, Dark Valorite, Ocean Blue Haochi, Med Valorite.
Roof is Shadow all shades.  Dark Purple plant for Nexxus area. 

You cant turn the statuettes. The plan was to have the different creatures battle the invading red demons.  But, the defenders are briefing at the moment.  Battle will be later.


Here is a View of the front.

Now I can begin to clutter up the place!

Tarragon_Slayer

Hello Petra,

Working with colours is tricky. I hope you don't mind that I tell you what I like about your keep and what I feel could use rethinking.

Ground floor
Bronze and copper go together well. The black table & chairs contrast well with the dark bronze. I like how you didn't place chairs all around the table, but simply left some free room there.
I'm not sure about the colour choice of the carpet however; it doesn't stand out against the bronze. Also I'd place the ensemble of carpet + chairs & table one tile to the south and perhaps also one to the west.
The valorite tables in the kitchen contrast well with the copper. All in all this floor offers a well-balanced look.

Second floor
I like how the white tower floors contrast with the main room. The composition of the tower rooms is fine too, in my view.
The main room still needs work, I think. While the choice of colours and the composition for the floor are good, the objects in the room look a bit flimsy. Consider replacing them with items in a different material and/or colour and grouping them together differently.

3rd floor
Again, the tower rooms are quite good, but the two main rooms still need work. They're awfully blue 

Roof
The grass picnic area on the roof looks out of place against the rest. Not sure what you intend with that part. The statue area is rather dark. Nexus area and lava area are both excellent. The lava area is quite impressive. Wow!

Overall
So, finally, you have 4 floors which are each done quite well, each floor with some merits. However, what I lack, is a binding factor. It's a bit as if you were to build a RL castle with one floor in roman style, the next one in gothic, the third Jugendstil and the fourth one post modern. Each of these styles is splendid, but they don't combine well into one complete experience. 

Also consider playing with different hues of the same colour to add more depth, or to add details to enhance a colour choice. The only exception is the 2nd floor main area in green, where you've added the darker dots. That's a clever choice. Perhaps it would be good to read a bit about the theory of composition in art, more specifically the theory of colour composition. As I said, colour is tricky. Use too little of it and it fails to make an impression. Use too much of it and you botch the entire work.

So, yes, I love it, but ...
Please, please, I hope you don't feel disappointed. My advice is purely meant to be constructive. When you presented us with your keep a few months ago, I was delighted. Your talent as a UO interior decorator is without question and your present work looks promising. I applaud what you've already created, but I feel you're simply not quite finished with it yet 

I hope my suggestions help you and wish you energy and courage to continue this endeavour. Hope you keep us posted on the progress!

Petra_Fyde

@Tarragon_Slayer At first I found your comments a little confusing, I don't have the things you are describing in my keep. But then I realised @Pawain does.  My Europa keep has changed a little since I posted last. As with all things, they evolve. 

Tarragon_Slayer

Goodness, forgive an old blind bat for offering advice to the wrong person.

I'll have to come visit your castle again, Petra. My character may still be wandering somewhere in the vicinity.
The additions are well-chosen. I especially like how you "split" the carpet on the ground floor into two. It's just a small difference, but it greatly improves the room. Cleverly done!

Pawain

@Tarragon_Slayer

Thanks!  I'm am glad it looked well enough to critique!  I'm afraid to contrast things because they do not look good to me, so I try to make thing match instead.  Before changing this Keep, I'm going to gather more Granite and floor another Keep.

Tarragon_Slayer

I agree with you, Pawain. It takes courage to work with contrasts, but there's no harm in testing, testing and testing again until you have a result that works for you. I look forward to see how your project will evolve 

Kitiara

Brilliant!! Love all of these. Thanks for sharing!

Pawain

@Tarragon_Slayer --- anyone

How does this look?  Ill stop here in case its bad.  

If it works, what color would go well for the 2 closed rooms?

If it doesn't work, what color would go well with this gold floor?

Or should I do purple plant Dye in the big room and the gold in the two smaller ones?

Thanks

Tarragon_Slayer

So, suddenly I'm promoted to colour advisor *g*

Gold and red is a daring combination, but both colours go together well. Am I guessing correctly that you wanted such an impressive contrast in the first place, but didn't dare and therefore went for the softer combination of copper and bronze?

I'm not sure if adding purple to gold and red would be a good idea. It might work well or it might destroy the entire display. To see what might work (it's never guaranteed), take a look at this colour wheel and the suggested combinations to the right:

You'll see that yellow and red are two primary colours and that you can consider combining them with blue.

Primary colours are bold and create a lot of tension. Try googling for "painting red yellow blue". You'll see examples of how artists combine these colours in their works. Observe how they bring balance by varying the quantity of the 3 colours, by repeating some more often than others, by cleverly giving them a specific place on the canvas, by selecting hues and variations of their chosen colours, by using light and dark, by adding neutral black or white to relieve the tension.

Also, observe how most of the google examples are modern works of art. The old artists usually went for much gentler combinations.

I hope I'm not overwhelming you now 

Mene_Drachenfels

This is what I did with my new keep. I choose the "Citadel of the Far East" Model. Location is Drachenfels, south-east of Skara Brae next to the beginning of the Dragonholme Mountains and near Two-Kings Brigde.

It's opening for public - so come in and find out

But deco is never done and never finish if there is new stuff - so it might be possible that something looks suddenly complety different.

I don't like really play with colors *G*, so I most items have their "natural" outfit and I've chosen more decent colors. It's more decorated als an old medial castle, but with the virtue Theme. The Throne Room is just a bigger build i did for my guildhall in Westcliff, a Playertown on DF.

I think the pictures speak for itself - hope you enjoy it!

The Roof-Gardens

This is the ground floor - a quick design to present the artisan rewards from the festivals.

The Virtue Throne-Room with Town-Banner and the Tabard of Virtue

The Library and Rest-Room Area

Pawain

Tarragon_Slayer said:

So, suddenly I'm promoted to colour advisor *g*

If the pallette fits... 

I typed in some google searches.  What color goes with ______  etc.  I saw a lot of the pie charts. 
I have little knowledge of what they mean.  I am drawn to the Realism sections when I go to art museums.  I hope I get the basic idea.

I went with blue, because the purple did look bad.

@Mene_Drachenfels ; I like your gardens on your roof. I like the way you used your carpets so I increased mine on this floor. And I will use more in the future.  Your first floor is great!  Love the way you display the virtue rewards.
Your style is very symmetrical and organized, which I just can't do.  I start with some symmetry then toss in new things as I find them.

Here is my finished first floor. I want it to be bold and bright!

Pawain

Also @Tarragon_Slayer or anyone.

I have these colors in bulk there's a sample on the floor.  Violet Courage Purple, Fire Orange, Berserker Red, Rum Red, Bright blue plant, Purple Plant.

I'm doing the second floor next.  I plan to do the large part, bar area in colors that go together.  Then the corner rooms in another color.

I want a relaxing feel to the area.  Its for music, gaming, drinking, gathering.

Should I use the colors above or go back to different shades of Copper and Bronze?

Thanks for any advice.

Mene_Drachenfels

@ Pawain : Thx

My style is so symmetrical and neat because I’m in reality a completely chaotic type and because I’ve also had problems with my eyes due to diabetes in my old age. Without a certain order, I wouldn’t find anything in the game, so almost all the boxes that are lying around are labeled somehow.

A tip about the colors: I think it's good if players have the courage to color. Color should generally be applied for a while. If it's all too colorful and confused, you've seen it very quickly. Also try not to create everything just in this one color. The eye is looking for contrasts and resting points, which is partly what makes good design. If you like an item and it has eg. several colors, it always works well if you then use one of these colors somewhere again.

Strong contrasts in colors are this tree colors : yellow, red and blue. From this three colors you can mix all other colors except black and white of course.

Strong contrasts: Yellow to Violet (mix of red with blue), Red to Green (mix of blue with yellow),

Blue to orange (mix of red with yellow)

Give white to a color you get the Pastel color, give black to a color you get the more "dirty" or darker colors.

A good example in Arts is the art of Vincent van Gogh:

Colours are also always an expression of feelings. The palette of white, yellow, orange and red are colours that are more invigorating and can sometimes trigger completely different effects than the palette of the so-called cold colours – on the colour scale the colours purple, blue, green, brown and black. Cool colours are more soothing. But it also depends on the intensity of the colour. For me as a diabetic, really shrill colours can be quite painful to look at.

What ever work best to calm down are the "earthen" colors - natural colors like brown, beige.

Tarragon_Slayer

What an exuberant colour-feast, Pawain, well done!
Mene gives you excellent advice (I wouldn't have expected it otherwise, she's a wonderful architect & interior decorator). I'm not going add anything to it, because it's very much what I had in mind as well. She too knows the theory.
And in a certain way, Pawain, so do you, only you'll tell yourself it's your gut-feeling 

We see compositions every day (in art, magazines, on television, etc.). What we see sticks, and most of us tend to combine colours and objects as we should, because we're constantly confronted with thousands of (good) examples. Exceptions exist, but you're clearly not one of them 

Staying curious what you will do next.

Pawain

@Tarragon_Slayer

I changed the carpet on the first floor of the first house. And tried to lessen the bright blue on the third floor.  So, this house is done.

Pawain

Now the second Keep is done.
First floor is Red carpet, Paragon Gold pavers Blue plant dye corners.
Ill use those 3 colors for each floor above, and add a color. So it flows better?


Second floor uses gold more, then adds purple.  All 3 shades of gold pavers. Then Fire orange for bar.


3rd floor is the 3 shades of valorite pavers in corners and bedroom.added white in this floor.
Large area is blue plant dye on dark and light pavers. Brought up purple from last floor.



Mosaic tiles are fun.  I wish I had more!

Roof area more cluttered than last pic.



I have another Keep that Ill do.  Agapite barely has a color so thats not a good one. Ive used all the stone colors on these 2 houses.

Tarragon_Slayer

Hail Pawain,

Keep 1 - 1st floor

Indeed, the new carpet is much better. I also like the addition of the bright red parrot, even though it partly conceals the picture on the wall.

The small detail in the kitchen with the darker "star" is a good idea addition too, and by the way, the valorite tables combine very well with the copper floor.

Keep 1 - 3rd floor

It's still very blue. Some of the tiles in the main room and the bedroom are slightly darker than the rest. Consider using a few more of this darker blue to add a bit of life. The blazing orange plants provide a bold contrast to the blue. Well done!

Keep 2 - 1st floor

The blue "stars" on the gold floor break the monotony, so good job there. Painting the statue blue makes it stand out a bit more.

Keep 2 - 2nd floor

You've played well with the lighter and darker greens. The contrasts are again quite daring, but they work. It's clever to continue the purple of the counter in the darker "stars".

Keep 2 - 3rd floor

After the brashness of the 1st and 2nd floor this monochrome composition of valorite/blue offers a moment of rest. The eyecatcher in red doesn't diminish this. I'm not sure about the white table. Can you dye it the same colour as the bed and curtains?

Keep 2 - 4th floor

What a splendid garden! The brightly-coloured flowers and trees give "pep" to the place which might else be too monotonous. Excellent!

The different floors "flow" better now. You don't get the feeling that you're thrown from one extreme into another. All in all, it's an impressive keep. There's more of an artist in you than you think 

Wishing you luck in gathering the necessary agapite tiles and curious what keep 3 will look like.

Pawain

Thanks!  I forgot about the white gozas.  I had a globe of sosaria there and it broke when I tried to get rid of the base.