Temperature Map

What is a temperature map?

Colour temperature, how warm or cool an area reads, is easy to lose track of when you're focused on getting value and hue right at the same time. A temperature map isolates just that one relationship, so you can see where a reference actually shifts warm or cool independent of how light or dark it is.

Why artists map temperature

• Keeping colour choices temperature-honest instead of guessing by eye
• Spotting warm/cool shifts that get lost once you're focused on value or hue alone
• Understanding how light source and reflected light push temperature across a form
• Getting temperature right as well as value, which is often what takes a piece past 'technically correct' colour

How this tool works

Upload a reference and the tool maps warm and cool areas across it. A gain slider controls how strongly the warm/cool contrast is pushed, and a squint slider blurs the source first. That is the digital equivalent of squinting at a reference to see the big temperature shifts without getting distracted by texture and small colour changes.

Combine with other tools

• Pair with Value Study so temperature and value get checked separately rather than guessed together
• Use Paint Mixing once you've settled a temperature read, to find pigment mixes that actually hit it