colour theory

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James Gurney's Color and Light is very good. Also read the sticky.

But for quick tips:
>plan your palette based on color schemes like complementaries, triads, etc
>pay attention to saturation too, not just hue and value
>for an overall warm image saturate your warm colors more and desaturate your cool colors (ie. use bright oranges and greyish blues), for an overall cool image do the inverse, or use all saturated colors for a more energetic mood or all desaturated colors for a more somber mood
>small areas of high saturation or very different hue from the rest of the image are good for establishing focal point
>never ever paint an object in consistent hue or saturation, vary these for far more realism and "life," especially in lit vs shaded areas
>basically play around and try to judge what looks good, don't just use the first colors that come to mind, experiment

http://www.huevaluechroma.com/index.php this is a great reference

>>3058527
Youtube vids :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj1FK8n7WgY
and this one is an eye opener :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYGi18U4D4M (13')