My Struggle with Colour
…Or how I’m slowly kicking colour’s butt!
I have always loved colours but have also been equally terrified of them. Whenever I created anything, I would enjoy the process until it came to picking colours. I had ways of selecting colours for my work like using a limited colour palette, picking some pictures or artworks and using their colour scheme in a way that would fit my work, or just winging it. Sometimes, these worked, but most times, I hated my work because something always felt a little off. However, there were also rare times when everything fell into place but I didn’t understand why.
To add another layer to my self-doubt, I saw other artists online who had personal colour palettes and I envied them (I’ve dropped a few examples below from artists I admire). It was easy to instantly identify their work through colour; I always thought that was pretty cool.
As I slowly became more serious about illustration, I had to learn more about colour so I made some investments in myself. My first step was getting the Personal Palette for Creatives by Belinda Kou and Huyen Dinh. This resource has a limited release so you have to keep an eye out for it on both of their websites. I was able to start the journey to figure out my personal palette but I also learned so much about colour and how to play with it.
The next thing I did was take the Fun with Colours class by Charly Clements on Skillshare. I had taken this class some time ago but I didn’t take it seriously or pay attention (silly me!). This time, I did all the exercises and I could immediately see the difference in my colour choices. Using a key tip that I learned from the Personal Palette Resource, I was able to follow the class a bit better and understand why some colour choices worked and others didn’t. Another awesome class that helped me on Skillshare was Easy Peasy Palettes by Sarah Beth Morgan; also on Skillshare. This class went a bit further with some tips on how to create and use colour palettes. I went from making something like this to this!
I took these three classes on colour, but feel free to try other classes too! You never know what tips you’ll find that appeal to the way you work.
Aside from Skillshare, I also tried this fun AI colour generator called Khroma created by George Hastings. According to the website, it is a “personalized algorithm” to help you generate colour combinations that work for you. First, you have to pick 50 colours (yes, I know, but trust the process), and then you’ll get a list of suggested colour palettes and mixes. You can also adjust the bias which generates combinations based on colours you like or you can adjust it to include more colours. And you can also get gradients based on your selections.
The pictures on the left are from Khroma and the pictures on the right are quick applications of the colours into an artwork.
So, you can always try different colour combinations to see what fits your artwork.
Other awesome apps that I use are Adobe Colour, Coolors, Colour Hunt, and of course, Pinterest! Here are some more helpful classes you should check out on Skillshare to help out with colour (and no, this post isn’t sponsored by Skillshare. I just happen to use it a lot! 😆)
Colour Theory for Illustrators: A Fun Beginner’s Guide to Creative Color by Brooke Glaser
Limited Color Palette Illustration in Procreate by Liz Kohler Brown
I’ve also heard great things about Domestika and would love to try some of their classes out. Here are a few colour classes that look interesting.
Colour Theory: How to Apply It To Your Images by Jean Fraisse
Introduction to Colour Psychology: Chromatic Narrative by Sole Otero
The last resource that is free is YouTube!!!! There is this Colour Theory playlist from the Futur Academy that rocks! I have also created a colour playlist on YouTube that you can check out. I will be adding more videos about colour that I come across here, so make sure you also save this playlist.
As you go on your colour journey, be kind to yourself and enjoy experimenting. Don’t be afraid to fail and try again. So, go forth and create something awesome today, even if it sucks!