Tail Colors

[MermanJamie]

Whenever I draw myself as a merman, I always get conflicted over what color to draw the tail. Does anyone have any advice as to how to pick a definitive color for drawing, as well as when I finally get a tail? I've taken a few quizzes online, but I've gotten at least five different answers. I'd just like to know, or have a definitive idea, not a ton of ideas swirling around in my head. I know that people say that colors symbolize certain things, but going into symbolism seems complex. A lot of people just choose their favorite color, which is great for some people, but I have so many favorite colors, and that seems like the easy way out. If you have any advice for deciding, please tell me. Also, tell me what color your tail is!

[MermaidBrandie]

I based mine off of some really pretty tropical fish

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[Keiris]

Maybe you need a color-shifting tail!

[merwandering]

This probably sounds so silly, but- just don't even think about it. Just imagine yourself swimming, for example, and what do you imagine? or just start sketching and see what happens. We made tails last summer, and both just 'knew' what our tails should look like, but I realized both of our instincts were very, very influenced by what we had experienced. When I think 'mermaid' I think of classical art and literature, and of course my tail is green and looks sort of traditional. My daughter, on the other hand, grew up with me working at a camp, and freshwater fish were what she saw all of the time, so she immediately gravitated to making a more natural tail with golds and whites and browns. Now we are both making new tails, and they just felt like obvious choices to us, but are much more branching out from such deeply engrained images. Mine is inspired by peacocks, and I have another I'm working on inspired by flames! So- maybe something will just seem obvious, if you imagine yourself swimming, but if it doesn't- is there a fish you think is particularly compelling? or literally anything- a plant, an animal, a place, I've seen them inspired by the night sky, by gemstones, even by cartoon characters or hobbies or philanthropy causes. You could do something very different, inspired by geometric graphic design- the sky is the limit! Maybe start instead of with a color scheme, with a concept...but color shifting tails are about the coolest thing ever. Ever.

[Cayden]

It takes some soul searching and I know I mention this a lot but... if you have the soul of a Merfolk then you should naturally be drawn to the color your tail is. My color tail is green and I found out through meditation and dreams and I realized that my fav. color is green. Green isn't my fav. color to wear or color with but it symbolizes a piece of who I am. A person's true color takes time to understand and figure out.
The good news is that at this point it may not be such a huge deal. If you want to buy a tail it's probably not going to be a super expensive one right? So just have fun with it, make it silly until you're older and understand more about the color that symbolizes your soul. n_n

[Khaleesi Daenerys]

Mine changes based on mood character design ect. A lot factors into it I have so many designs and each have different color palettes.

[Aurelian]

I usually decide based on what region the mer is from. For example, arctic mers would have white and light blue tails, while tropical mers would have bright colors like pink, orange, and yellow, and freshwaters would have green and dark blue tails. I was torn between blue and pink, but was able to decide on blue because my mersona is from the open ocean, where I imagine blue tails would be more common.

[MermanJamie]

Thanks for letting me know, everyone. These all sound like great ideas. I'll have to think more, but I definitely have a lot of good ideas to help me.

[MermanJamie]

So, I went through a lot of the ideas, and I still can't decide. If I'm going to get a tail, I should decide what it will look like, but there are just too many good choices. I really don't know now.

[Mermaid Wesley]

I decided by making myself of this dollmaker in a bunch of different colors and decided on the ones i liked best.
http://www.dolldivine.com/neptunes-son.php
(well i used the girl version but i assume you want this one.)

[Khaleesi Daenerys]

You know what I can't believe I didn't think to tell you this before but if you can't decide between a couple of different colors you can get a color shifting tail.

[Misty Lau]

I'm going to have iridescent pigment in my tail, but I know the fish I am, and I know the fins. I'm thinking along the lines of buying some cheap but effective cosmetic highlight for it.

[MermanJamie]

It takes some soul searching and I know I mention this a lot but... if you have the soul of a Merfolk then you should naturally be drawn to the color your tail is. My color tail is green and I found out through meditation and dreams and I realized that my fav. color is green. Green isn't my fav. color to wear or color with but it symbolizes a piece of who I am. A person's true color takes time to understand and figure out.
The good news is that at this point it may not be such a huge deal. If you want to buy a tail it's probably not going to be a super expensive one right? So just have fun with it, make it silly until you're older and understand more about the color that symbolizes your soul. n_n

If you get what I mean, Cayden, this isn't just for me. I want to find out what the mer inside of me is saying, and what his tail is like, because he is essentially a huge part of my soul. But I don't know how I can see what my soul is saying. If anyone knows what I can do, if there's a certain set of rules or steps I should follow, please tell me. The more I know about what is inside me, the more comfortable I will be with myself

[Mermaid Alea]

Wow a few green mers are commenting! I guess I will join in too! I am a green mer as well but my favorite color is purple lol. I feel very much like merwandering. I am also inspired by peacocks. I like how peacocks have both brilliant and subtle colors - that is something I want in my dream tail - nice colors but also not too crazy that it looks a bit unbelievable or too fanciful.

What helped me some was creating a mood board to get an idea of what colors I am most drawn to. Start saving images - perhaps on Pinterest - of things you find beautiful and inspiring. Perhaps you have a favorite fish, bird, flower, etc. I found myself drawn to blues, greens, teals, and golds.

But then my mind started thinking up other color schemes. Recently I have been thinking maybe my designs are too light colored. I have been liking the idea of having a darker colored tail recently and I am even veering off from the colors I originally chose.

I try to picture myself in each color scheme too. Imagining myself wearing such a tail, swimming in the tail, if it fits my personality, etc. Generally there are a few color schemes that keep popping up in my mind over and over again. I think those are the really good ones since I keep thinking about them.

You could start writing down what you picture your mersona to be like and that could give you clues as to what your color(s) will be.
Is your mersona tough? - Perhaps darker colors would be good.
Is he shy or outgoing? - If shy - perhaps colors that blend in more with nature and if outgoing perhaps bright, vibrant colors.
Is he freshwater, saltwater, brackish, etc? Sometimes it can be fun to have your tail 'match' the main environment you will be swimming in.

Those are just some ideas.

[MermanJamie]

If you get what I mean, Cayden, this isn't just for me. I want to find out what the mer inside of me is saying, and what his tail is like, because he is essentially a huge part of my soul. But I don't know how I can see what my soul is saying. If anyone knows what I can do, if there's a certain set of rules or steps I should follow, please tell me. The more I know about what is inside me, the more comfortable I will be with myself

I know we've talked about this, Cayden, but having merfolk inside you is an amazing thing. I know I have it. I don't really have a mersona, but I imagine that my mersona is just the mer in my soul, the mer inside of me. I don't know anything about him, but I don't know how I can learn more. I'm kinda looking for ways to learn more about him.

[Mermaid Slaney]

My tail is a deep lagoon--> .
But my mer is a freshwater mer. If your mer is an arctic mer, blues and whites would probably be it, tropical mers would have bright colors, deep sea mers are dark and sometimes have glow spots-->, pacific mermaids look kind of classic, and so on.

[Misty Lau]

I'd say look at a bunch of beautiful tails to see what kind of colorschemes people have come up with for inspiration, try to imagine yourself in a tail, and go from there. I have this weird thing where tails NEED to match hair color in some respect. If you're a blonde, you could do a stunning gold. If you have black hair, you could do black with bright pops of color and look fierce and mysterious. Or, you can do a color that compliments your eye color. For instance, green and red compliment. If you've got brown eyes, go with a green tail. Green eyes, go with a red to brown tail. Blue eyes could go with a yellow or orange tail. Just some ideas to look into.

[.MermaidSophia.]

wow. tough question. Right now I am a "natural" mer with browns and blacks and greens in my tail, but soon I'm switching to blue. If you want to be unique, surprisingly blue tails aren't as common as you'd think! As you can see from this thread, many many of us go with the greens and tropical colors, but sometimes I think the simple colors are most unique.

[The Magic Crafter]

Ugh. I hear what you're saying!! Designing mine took me foreeeever! My tail was made up of many sleepless nights and impromptu sketches in the early morning (I'm talking 3 A.M.). It's rough... but you'll find the perfect tail for you.

Personally, I'd suggest creating a Pinterest Board and "pinning" different things that you like the look of/ have a fondness of and then try looking for a pattern in your pins. Do you tend to opt towards cooler colors... warm colors? Maybe darker ones? Do you tend to like things with dramatic patterns, or are you more of a "clean lines" minimalist sort of mer? For me, I decided that I wanted something that could swing from Gothic to Cheerful depending on my mood. I then drafted up a few rough sketches, asked for the opinions of my family members and boyfriend, and went from there. (I kinda explain it here: What Inspired my Mermaid Tail's Design ) If you're feeling super stuck, I highly suggest you turn to the people that know you best.

Best of luck to you!

XOXO- Mermaid Phantom

[MermanJamie]

Ugh. I hear what you're saying!! Designing mine took me foreeeever! My tail was made up of many sleepless nights and impromptu sketches in the early morning (I'm talking 3 A.M.). It's rough... but you'll find the perfect tail for you.

Personally, I'd suggest creating a Pinterest Board and "pinning" different things that you like the look of/ have a fondness of and then try looking for a pattern in your pins. Do you tend to opt towards cooler colors... warm colors? Maybe darker ones? Do you tend to like things with dramatic patterns, or are you more of a "clean lines" minimalist sort of mer? For me, I decided that I wanted something that could swing from Gothic to Cheerful depending on my mood. I then drafted up a few rough sketches, asked for the opinions of my family members and boyfriend, and went from there. (I kinda explain it here: What Inspired my Mermaid Tail's Design ) If you're feeling super stuck, I highly suggest you turn to the people that know you best.

Best of luck to you!

XOXO- Mermaid Phantom

I definitely hear what you're saying. I usually prefer cooler colors, because warm ones don't look too good on me. I prefer brighter colors, but surprisingly my wardrobe has much more dark than bright, so I guess you could say I like both. I don't really have a mersona, because I'm still discovering who I am inside, but from what I can tell he's probably kind hearted and good, but shy, as that's what I'm like, and I usually just use someone like myself. He probably also likes to sing, as I consider myself kind of like a siren, but that's pretty much all I have.