Update: I forced myself to use only three colors for a piece and it actually worked

I was stuck in a rut with my digital portraits, so last week I limited my palette to just black, white, and one shade of blue. The result was way more focused and moody than my usual over-rendered stuff. Has anyone else found that less is more with color choices?

3 comments

3 Comments

valh321mo agoMost Upvoted

Oh hell yeah, that's the best trick in the book. I get so lost picking colors and everything ends up looking muddy. Sticking to just a few forces you to actually think about value and shape instead. My stuff gets way stronger when I box myself in like that. It's crazy how limiting your options can make the work better.

cameron5381mo ago

Wasn't this just a gimmick at first? I mean, I tried it to break a block and ended up liking the forced simplicity way more. It really does make you solve problems differently.

jennyp191mo ago

Honestly, forcing myself to use just three colors taught me more about light and shadow than any fancy brush ever did. It stops you from hiding weak drawing with a bunch of colors. Tbh, I started applying that limit to my sketches first, and now my full pieces feel way more solid.