Nov 12, 2025
5 minute read
What role does color play in your work?
"It’s everything, literally. Haha. I don’t think about it as much as I used to. I get to be intuitive now, because I built a whole construct in my soul that knows what to do. All those years working in animation (‘96-‘02) I had to think about it constantly. I was a background painter and character color designer. Now I just paint and color falls into place. I go after joy. Whatever gets me excited."
At what point did your work become more colorful?
"Definitely working in animation. My friend Andrew Brandou made me think about color more than anyone. I used to make monochromatic paintings and I felt pretty good about them…
Art from the Tim Biskup "SMOKE" show.
…Then he said “Anyone can make a monochromatic painting look good. Adding some wild colors in there and making them work is the real challenge.” It was pretty painful to hear that and I knew he was right. Monochromatic paintings are a bit of a cheat. I still make them sometimes but usually there are some other colors in there that are challenging the zone.
He showed me some basic ways of thinking about values…
Hard to explain but it helps. I share that with other artists sometimes and it always leads into a conversation."
Hoppn: Tim's exactly right here, each hue reaches its peak chromaticity at a distinct lightness level. In simpler terms, pure yellow naturally appears brighter than pure blue.
In the perceptually uniform Oklab color space, we can convert colors to black and white to reveal their lightness value.
In this piece by Tim Biskup, yellow replaces white, allowing the art to pop with color while still maintaining contrast.
How has your use of color evolved?
"Recently, I have been layering color more. Painting with a foam roller. I don’t mix color on a palette. I use a few primary colors and some fluorescents. You can get wild combinations like that. The texture is always powerful too.
When I use brushes, I get into underpainting more lately. Probably from all that layering work."
3D color analysis by Hoppn. This visualization highlights the complementary relationships between colors, showcasing a strong orange–blue axis and a vibrant green–pink axis.
Sorting every pixel by hue reveals the distribution of color. Color analysis by Hoppn.
How do you decide when to go full grayscale and when to infuse with vibrancy?
"When I’m drawing I usually don’t think about color. I may think about how I might use color if I turn a drawing into a painting but I don’t usually add any while I’m working. Drawing is usually improvised and I like to keep it simple.
When I paint I almost always use color. Even if I am using a limited palette it doesn’t really feel limited because I leave the option to add any color anytime.
Hoppn: With all it's vibrancy, this piece shows incredible color balance. After averaging every pixel into one color we get a warm gray.
What unexpected thing influenced your color preferences early on?
"I worked with John K at Spümcø. He used to tear pages out of National Geographic and plop them down in front of me. “That’s the color”.
It would be a volcano or a jungle scene and I was painting a house interior. Figuring out how to use those colors and the ratios in a completely different composition was challenging but enlightening. The results were always striking. Thinking that way about color is wild.
John Kricfalusi, creator of Spümcø
This piece by Tim Biskup bursts with vivid color and rich, dynamic tones.
Hue waveform analysis by Hoppn.
How do you approach color choices for fashion versus fine art?
"I have to remember that each clothing item doesn’t need to be a complete composition. I’m more restrained with clothing because I don’t need it to be everything."
What was your experience working with Brain Dead, and did their distinctive use of color influence your own creative decisions?
"Brain Dead took my drawings and did their thing with them. I was comfortable with that because I like what they do. I can’t say I always understand their choices, but I like them.
Some of their color and style choices have probably bled into my work."
Tim Biskup X Brain Dead
What colors best represent your style?
All of these colors, but "LEGO Green is the catalyst"
What artist would you like to collaborate with on a future project?
"I’d love to have Barry McGee do a show at Face Guts where we get to collaborate."
We dropped in at Face Guts to capture images with Tim Biskup. Face Gut's is Tim's personal studio space turned storefront, often used as a venue space for art shows live performances and social hangouts. Come on down and pay him a visit!
Photos: Carson Hart of Hoppn
What can we learn from Tim's journey with color?
The world of color is complex, with infinite possibilities. If you'd like more from INFINITE COLOR SERIES, let us know by sharing and tagging @hoppn.
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