Can we talk about how I used to color pick from photos vs now?

I used to just grab colors straight from reference photos with the eyedropper tool and call it a day. But about 6 months ago I noticed all my pieces had this flat, muddy look that I couldn't fix. A friend in a Discord server pointed out that photos already have lighting baked in so you're just copying someone else's light setup. Now I study the photo, close it, and pick my own palette from scratch using color theory basics. It took maybe 15 tries before my art stopped looking like a filtered mess. I still keep the photo open for anatomy and shapes but I hide it when choosing colors. Has anyone else found that reference photos mess with your color decisions more than they help?

2 comments

2 Comments

wren8061mo agoMost Upvoted

6 months of trial and error taught me that the eyedropper is basically a crutch that kills your control over color temperature. Keep that photo open for pose reference but cover the screen with a sticky note when you start picking your palette. Your brain knows complementary colors better than you think, you just have to stop letting the reference make the decisions for you.

julia_burns91mo ago

Wait, you mean I can't just stab my screen with an eyedropper and call it art? Who knew that stealing shadows from a sunset pic in Maui didn't make my cat portrait look like a masterpiece? I tried your method once on a landscape piece and ended up with a sky that looked like someone puked a rainbow. Stuck with it for a week though. My dog was confused by the neon green grass but my art finally looked like it came from my brain instead of a filter app. Good on you for cracking the code before I did.