#...and it's 2am

warning: I ended up yapping a lot so sorry😭😭

OHHH hi it's totally ok!! but it's a complicated matter... I think I just tend to focus on the colours most, as this is personally the most enjoyable part of the art, so it might have to do with experience and ability to enjoy the process, BUT...! I WILL try to gather some advice. feel free to send a follow-up ask or chat in the comments if you'd like to know something specific, I'm mostly free save for a little window tomorrow and won't mind, promise!

1. CHOOSE A LANE... when you do colours it's VERY important to understand what exactly you're going for. setting a monocolour on the background and underlayer can help, but I admit that I myself don't do it often and simply eyeball colours I need. STILL, it's a very big aid and WILL help you understand the dreaded 'colour theory' (I've never like specifically studied it so what do I know?).

ex. you want an orange art. choose orange-y white (yellow! light green! maybe even cyan? you aren't limited to one thing) and brown (again... green, cyan, anything in-between) for your lights and darks. choose a base colour and then use complementary shades.

the obvious part of this advice is, try to understand what emotion or vibes you want to show through this art. do you want to to be desaturated? the opposite? light, dark, in the middle, contrasting or not? IT SOUNDS COMPLICATED but it really is all about what you WANT and not what you SHOULD. you think that using blue for a sad piece isn't fitting in your specific case? okay, whatever, use yellow! orange! even red! use the colour as a tool and not as a guideline. while intense red might be unfitting for melancholy, for example, you will still be able to find fitting shades within the colour itself. DONT. LOCK. YOURSELF. IN FOUR WALLS.

2. a lot of different shades CAN kill your art... there's no need in complicating the matters. if you already have a red, reuse it. if you have a blue or purple and need it somewhere else, reuse it! for flat colours I STRONGLY recommend 'recycling' of the shades you already chose. not only will it help you with slowly coming around to finding the right contrast and complementary settings, but it will help piece look more organic. I won't say "try to keep it between 3 and 4 colours" or something so cagey, use as much as you NEED, but please try to be aware of what exactly you're doing.

however, you don't HAVE to lock yourself in the box when doing shadows or light or anything of the sort: while doing so makes the whole process easy to follow, using different blacks or whites will bring life to your drawing. goes for everything out there.

about shadows! I understand that it is very important to keep basics in your head while drawing, but the thing you need to know... you don't OWE anyone realism. not all shadows will be colder, and now all light will be warmer (-and vice versa). you can throw them on two completely different ends of the spectrum, and the only thing you'll NEED to do is connect them by tones between the two. if two colours feel completely disconnected, you need to find a middle ground. you shouldn't always give up on a pairing just because it's complicated.

3. blending modes are YOUR FRIENDS!!

being able to choose your own colours and follow up with different combinations is important, but sometimes it just doesn't work out. feel free to throw a blending mode on that shit. use a completely different shade, or colour, or try to see if you can change the mood by shifting the colour scheme entirely! don't stop on multiply and overlay I BEG OF YOU. I might be bias as I don't use either of these, but there are TONS of blending modes out there you can and should use! personally, I really like luminosity, color, saturation, exclusion and pin light. understand that I am not saying that they're somehow superior or the only ones that should be used, I'm sharing this in hopes of offering more options for what to choose next time you're stuck!

4. IT'S ALL ABOUT THE SMALL THINGS...

colour ur lineeee DO IT PLEASE. I'm not saying like you gotta draw out every little shift, but don't keep it solid black! make it match your colours! lineart shouldn't control your colour scheme, if that's what you're trying to focus on. sometimes you'll find out that keeping it a different colour while rendering results in better understanding of the whole vibe and other shtick.s.

MAKE USE OF THE EFFECTS!! I don't know what program you're using, but since I work in ibis I DO have some choices... my ultimate favourite and a thing that saved my ass MILLIONS of times is posterize, I'm serious. it's so good. it might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it'll definently help you with choosing a bit unconventional colours, if that's the word? but also keep your eye on hue/saturation/lightness and color balance ofc. they'll help you lots.

UMMM honestly I dunno what else to say on the matter!! don't use solid blacks and whites unless you think it looks super duper cool and you need it, then feel free to! it just that using different dark/light shades also contributes in how your character/art is perceived, and not all of them have to be the same. two characters interacting with one another can have their own shades of black. use it for STORYTELLING OK??? ok!

IN SHORT WORDS.

you need to allow yourself to work WITH colours and not FOR them: you shouldn't be scared of unconventional pairings, "ugly" (there ARE no ugly shades and the faster you understand it the faster you'll come around to using them as any other ones) colours and making the palette too "simple" or "complicated". but it isn't EASY if you aren't confident in what you're doing, so take it slow and set reasonable bounds (colour limit, don't heavily rely on blending modes/filters to do the work for you, set the undertone and attempt to follow it). again, you don't owe anyone anything, but that'll rly allow you to grow into this understanding instead of leaping into it and getting lost in the process.

a big part of not being able to choose colours is being scared of them coming out unappealing. disregard that ok??? try your best ok??? make ugly art and choose ugly colours and please bro don't think about poo and pee when going into browns and yellows section. it is entirely immature and unfitting for the tone of this post, but I NEED you to understand that even playful disgust WILL keep you away from actual creative freedom😭😭 go and PLAY WITH YOUR TOYS!! take the colours and smash them together and then look at them again and think ok. wow. this is bad. let me try again and do it better. it's not gonna turn out perfect who cares who cares!!! maybe try to ask for feedback from friends, but again, sometimes making independent choice is the kinda push you need. idk. I'm done with my therapy talk