Got some harsh feedback on my color choices and it made me rethink everything

I posted a fantasy character piece here a few months back, really proud of the line work. Someone commented, 'Your values are a total mess, the focal point gets lost.' I was kinda mad at first, but they were right. I was using like 20 different bright colors with no real plan, so the whole thing looked flat and noisy. I spent the next two weeks just doing grayscale studies, forcing myself to think in light and dark before I even picked a color. My last piece, a cyberpunk street scene, I built it up from a black and white base and only added color after. The difference is crazy, it actually has depth now. Has anyone else had a simple piece of advice completely flip their process like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

angela_perry13d ago

Oh man, that grayscale advice is a game changer. I had a teacher tell me to squint at my paintings to see the big shapes, and it felt stupid until I tried it. Now I do it all the time.

henry_martin5613d ago

Hot take: Grayscale first, always. Wow, that's such a real moment! Getting that kind of blunt feedback stings, but it sounds like you totally turned it around. Working in black and white first makes so much sense, it forces you to solve the hard problems before the fun color part. I'm with @angela_perry on the squinting trick too, it's another one of those simple things that just works. Your cyberpunk scene must look amazing now, that's a huge win.