The goal is to always get better, and this piece is making me feel like I am…
If you follow me on socials, you’ve probably seen me randomly playing around with the colour wheel and experimenting with colour harmony lately. The goal has been to relearn how colours work together and how they can enhance the atmosphere of my art rather than just existing inside it.
My previous piece was the first time I intentionally used colour relationships to build mood while also experimenting with Procreate’s blend modes over the completed drawing. Now, with a little more confidence, I wanted to show a quick breakdown of the process.
I tend not to use Procreate’s settings to their full potential, but with this piece I experimented with blend modes like Hard Light and Divide to help create an atmosphere that felt:
isolated
cinematic
warm, but emotionally heavy
Instead of only thinking about the “real” colours of objects, I focused more on how lighting and colour temperature could influence the mood of the room. The warm yellow and yellow lighting against the cooler blue helped create a sense of solitude softened by warmth, while also adding a bit of cinematic tension.
I wanted to share this process mostly because I’m genuinely proud of how this piece turned out, but also because I hope it encourages other artists to experiment more with colour relationships and lighting in their own work.
Sometimes growth as an artist isn’t about learning something completely new. Really, sometimes it’s just finally allowing yourself to explore the tools you already had access to.
