Color Series I: How I Choose My Color Palettes

I’ve always had an obsession with color. As I grow as an artist, I find myself wanting to understand it more.

Because I didn’t have a formal art education, there’s a lot I don’t know. I’ve been told I’m good with color, whether it comes to interior design, clothing, or painting. However, I don’t know why I make the choices I do. Today I want to explore this further, in order to gain a better understanding of myself and the science of color.

I’m classifying this post as part of a larger series on color, because I’d like to explore this topic more in the following weeks.

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As you may already know, I choose my color palettes from hand painted swatches I created. Not only is it a time saver, but it’s made a huge difference in my work. It’s allowed me to be more selective. Being selective is crucial. I believe in using only the colors you need, and nothing more. Adopting this mindset has made a drastic improvement in my work.

If you’re good with color, your palette becomes somewhat of a “calling card,” in which people can identify your work. You’re probably using the same colors over and over again, in various combinations. I find this is the case with most expert artists.

for this color palette, the greens and golds are close on the color wheel and similar in tone. Then, I’ve chosen the pink and chartreuse color swatches on the right as my pop of color.

So how do I decide which colors belong in my swatch collection? They are simply colors I love. If I notice a color somewhere, I’ll make a mental note of it. I’m always open to adding or deleting swatches, but my preferences have stayed pretty consistent over the years. As artists, it’s so important to take time to consider the colors we love. We should only be using colors we’re obsessed with in our work. Not all of the colors in my swatch collection go together, which is why I take the time to select palettes.

If hand painted swatches aren’t your thing, you can do this digitally. In fact, an app like Procreate can extremely convenient. Try to make a master chart of all your favorite colors. That way, you have a reference sheet when planning for a piece.

When selecting my color palettes, I aim for 5-6 colors or less. More than half of the swatches will be muted colors that are close to each other on the color wheel. Usually these consist of muted beiges, greys, or greens. Then I choose a few remaining swatches that pop against those colors. I’m usually choosing a warm pop of color, like pink, burnt sienna, red, coral, or yellow. Blue can go either way. I’ve used grayish or navy blue as a neutral tone. On the flip side, sky blue is a great pop of color.

This swatch method may sound restricting, but it’s actually very freeing. These colors leave room for so many possibilities. I’m usually adding white and black to create varying degrees of each color. By the way, adding white is adjusting the tint. Adding black is adjusting the shade. More on that in another post.

I also love mixing the colors I’ve chosen to add depth to my paintings. For instance, I might mix hunter green and yellow ochre to create a warmer version of dark green. Even if it isn’t a swatch I have in my collection, it still fits within the palette. As you can see, I can make hundreds of colors from a 6 color palette to make a painting more interesting.

One thing I’m working on is tone, which is making a color more muted by adding gray. This adjusts the saturation. Personally, I’m drawn to muted paintings with pops of color. In the past, my downfall has been making every area of my paintings saturated. I think this adjustment will come with time, as I master my colors further. I’ve already gotten much better at this than I used to be.

While I typically choose 5-6 colors for a palette, I’ve had really interesting work come out of choosing only 2-3 colors. I urge you to play around with this exercise as well. One example is my Lady Bubblegum painting (bottom right). I love how simple the palette is.

The bottom line is that you need to get to know yourself better in order to master your color palettes. I believe our color preferences are something we’re just born with. Make note of which colors you like, and which ones you hate. Be selective. As you do this, your work will start to look more like you, which is the ultimate goal. Use your color preferences to plan for your pieces beforehand. Color should never be an afterthought. It’s arguably the most important factor that goes into making a piece beautiful.

My Pickle Jar painting.

My Lady Bubblegum painting using only two colors.