Finally figured out why my digital paintings looked flat for 2 years

I've been doing digital art for about 4 years now and last month I finally sat down and watched a tutorial on color theory. Turns out I was just picking colors off a wheel randomly without thinking about warm vs cool tones. Tried using a limited palette of 5 colors on my last piece and it popped way more than anything I've done before. Maybe it's just me but nobody told me that your shadows should be cooler than your light source? Curious if anyone else had that sudden click moment with colors or if I'm way late to the party.

3 comments

3 Comments

adams.uma1mo ago

Trust me, shadows should be warmer than the light source unless you're painting moonlight.

park.miles1mo ago

Ha, I've been picking colors like a drunk monkey for three years... no shame.

allen.iris1mo ago

Have you tried just sticking to a single color palette?