Blending combinations are for teachers, not for students. It’s much easier to tell students to follow the leader than to teach how to choose and use realistic colors. Tips from a professional artist and art instructor on how to reclaim your unique color voice and select colors for future projects.

Do you struggle to create your own blending combos?

I see a major problem in Copic Marker and colored pencil classes. I’m starting to see it in watercolor now too.

I have students who can color every project I throw at them. Many of my students color my class projects better than me!

But there’s a problem…

As long as you’re given a list of blending combinations and step by step instructions, you can color like a professional.

But when working independently— coloring your own ideas and choosing your own colors and blending combos… your projects look beginner-ish.

How is this possible?

How can someone have tons of coloring skills and yet struggle to create original art?

Today, let’s explore the problem of follow the leader learning and why you struggle to pick colors on your own.

“Dewy Leaf” by the author, Amy Shulke. This original line art was colored with M.Graham Watercolor and Prismacolor Premier Pencils.

Read more about color selection and the dangers of coloring tutorials here:

The Downside of Coloring Tutorials

Let’s preface this discussion with the acknowledgement that I’m part of the problem.

I teach online classes. I write tutorials. I publish weekly free color palettes.

The fact that I’m about to argue against my income stream should add a sense of gravity to this admission:

Without me, you might be a better artist.

The internet has changed art instruction.

That’s kind’a good and kind’a bad.

You may be too nervous to sign up for in-person art classes. Perhaps it’s not fear— there are no classes where you live or maybe you only have time to color after midnight.

Whatever the reason, you take online classes and follow video tutorials rather than taking in-person classes at the nearest art studio.

And there are lots of pretty good colorers online who are very happy to set up a web cam and offer coloring instruction.

Which is exactly the problem.

Coloring instructors want to sell classes.

To sell more classes and keep you enrolled, online instructors structure classes to guarantee student success.

Coloring classes are designed to help you color like a pro.

Because let’s face it, if you kick-ass in the first class, you’re definitely coming back for the second.

And because we’ve helped you succeed, we stunt your artistic growth.

Blending combinations benefit the teacher, not the student

When I started teaching classes, I set myself up to fail.

I learned to use illustration markers in art school. I’ve honestly never taken a coloring class.

When I started out, all I knew was that people suddenly liked markers. Since I’d been using them professionally for decades, teaching marker classes seemed like a no-brainer.

Boy was I stupid!

I stumbled upon the term “blending combination” as I looked for teaching opportunities but I didn’t know (or care) what it meant.

There’s no crying in baseball and there are no blending combinations in art.

Anyway, I failed big-time by trying to teach coloring classes without blending combinations.

Did I tell you how stupid I was? If not let me say it again. I was soooooo stupid!

Guess what happens when 25 people show up to a coloring class with only these instructions:

“Bring all your pink markers, some light blues, and several medium dark browns.”

Stupid. So, so stupid

I taught two classes without blending combinations. I spent most of the time going around picking out markers for people to use.

It was a disaster.

Then I wised-up and started using blending combinations… but even then, I was very liberal about substitutions.

So I still spent a painful amount of time picking markers for people and saying things like…

“Let’s all use C2 to deepen the green on the leaf. Katy and Brenda, this is where you’ll use B12. Sandy will use 2 coats of B60 and Martha, use V20. Kim, skip this step or borrow from someone.”

Arrrggghhhh!

I learned the hard way: blending combinations make teaching easier.

Everyone has the same color in their hand at the same time and we’re all doing the same thing.

Do this. Do that. Now do it again on the other side.

Ducks in a row.

Blending combinations make a class flow smoothly. When students all use the same markers, everyone leaves with a smile on their face.

Follow the leader coloring prevents you from wandering off and getting stuck.

And that’s exactly the problem.

You have skills without knowledge

Today, when you stare at an uncolored stamp and have no idea which markers to use…

When you routinely consult your big notebook full of other-people’s blending recipes…

Or when you test 16 blends and aren’t sure if any will work…

The very fact that you’re even thinking in terms of blending combinations at all…

The struggle to choose your own colors is a symptom of addiction— you can’t function without the help of tutorials and classes.

Combos and classes have artificially boosted your coloring skills.

You’ve been helped to color beyond your level of expertise.

Imagine a parent who sees their toddler struggling to walk without falling. They buy a wheelchair which helps the child go anywhere they want in complete safety… but there’s a price. Their leg muscles atrophy and they’re totally dependent on the chair.

Blending combinations and guided coloring classes do the same thing.

You can color complex images with beautiful technique…

But you have no idea how to walk on your own.

Convenience Kills Creativity

You would never eat at McDonalds three times a day everyday, would you?

Yet many of you do 100% of your coloring using blending combinations and following step-by-step instructions.

You always follow the leader and your leader has never made you think for yourself.

So it’s no wonder you stare at the blank page and feel completely lost.

Follow-me classes and recommended blending combinations take all the guess-work out of coloring.

But guessing is how we learn to make art.

Coloring classes are like junk food.

They feel good. They make you smile.

If all you want is to relax and have happy time, that’s great. If you’re taking convenience classes for social or stress-management reasons, then keep on taking them!

But every time I ask people on social media “What issues do you struggle with?”, someone always says:

I want to know how to pick my own colors!

And that comment always gets lots of likes and hearts.

Folks, I’ve been teaching color selection and how to ditch the blending combinations for years.

But it’s not a convenience class.

If you want to learn how to choose your own colors, you have to stop having color combinations served to you in fast food format.

It’s not about practice!

Serious colorers love, love, love to mention practice. I read it in Facebook groups and you’ll hear it in videos.

I practice, she practices, he practices, you practice, we practice, they practice…

People just insert “practice” into conversations with me. They think it’s what I want to hear.

Look, practice is fine and all.. but if you’re practicing more guided-coloring blending-combo other-people’s-project stuff, it’s not doing you a darned bit of good.

The way to be comfortable choosing your own colors is to practice choosing your own colors.

But that’s hell’a easy to say.

And pretty darned hard to do when you’re staring at a blank white page.

Here’s my advice:

If you’re sitting there staring at the paper with no idea what colors to use…

If you struggle with starting independent projects because you feel lost…

If you quit halfway through in frustration or if you’re always disappointed with your own ideas because they look terrible and not how you envisioned…

Practice can’t change that!

The reason why you’re lost is not because you’re not practicing.

You feel lost because you’ve been taught to wait for the universe to hand you amazing ideas, magical blending combinations, and step-by-step instructions.

That’s not how creativity works.

Fill Your Knowledge Gaps

Remember- we can’t solve your color selection issues in a blog article because this is a big chunk of knowledge you’re missing. Let this be the start of a learning process.

Always keep in mind that you’re working with artificially boosted skills.

You’ve been taught to mimic an instructor who’s been doing all the thinking, planning, testing, and troubleshooting for you.

Learning to work independently and generate your own ideas is not as much fun as step by step coloring tutorials. You’re going to make a lot of ugly stuff. You’re going to get stuck. You’re going to doubt your skills and your capacity to be creative. You’re going to feel frustrated and inadequate.

Basically, you’re going to feel all the feels that all art students feel.

This is the stuff your coloring instructor has been shielding you from.

Tips for moving from how-to coloring into educational classes:

1. Acknowledge the problem. Come to terms with the fact that the classes, videos, or tutorials you’ve been using so far have left you with a large gap between your skills and your knowledge.

2. Resolve that more of the same will not solve the problem. It’s scary to find a new teacher or join a new level of class, but following more step-by-steps will not help.

3. Accurately assess your current skill level. This can be hard because coloring crutches allow you to color far beyond your knowledge level. Think back to the last class project which made you feel clumsy. Discomfort is nature’s way of saying “you’re not very good at this, are you?”

4. Find comprehensive instruction from qualified artists. This is sticky because there are some very nice coloring instructors and you may feel emotionally connected to them. Make sure you’re targeting your specific areas of discomfort with instruction from someone with experience in the topic.

5. If you have a great instructor, consider stepping down a level. Email the instructor and ask “I need help with ____. Do you teach this?” Don’t be embarrassed about taking a lower level class. Nobody is keeping track of which classes you take. I have advanced students who purchase beginner classes, deliberately to target areas of discomfort.

6. Do the whole lesson, even if it’s just a beginner class. Filling knowledge gaps may require taking classes below your perceived skill level. Don’t go into this with the idea that “all I need is the info about ____” or even worse “I’m not doing that part because I already know it.” Let’s face facts— you completely missed key information about how to pick colors the first time, so what else are you missing that you don’t even know about? EVERY instructor has something new and valuable to offer. Do the entire lesson as presented with an open heart and mind. This is how we grow.

7. Repeat steps 3 to 6 as needed. And don’t feel ashamed about this. Professional artists do this all the time! I decided I was focusing too much on realism so I took classes in loose watercolor. I struggled with facial expressions so I took a cartooning class. Artists constantly hone or expand their skills though classes and groups.

Tips for opening your mind to color inspiration:

Because you’ve been thinking of color in terms of prepared blending combinations, you’ve likely got a warped sense of color. Here are a few exercises I recommend to students as we explore color in real life.

1. Start a social media diet. Colorers love to scroll through Instagram and Facebook feeds full of other colorers. Stop overwhelming your senses! First off, OPP (other people’s projects) cause jealousy and feelings of inadequacy— why can’t I color like that? And second, OPPs feed your project demons— she colored a bunny using C3, C5, C7 and I want to color one just like her! Limiting your exposure to what everyone else is doing will help you focus on what you should be doing.

2. Stop worrying about style. Sometimes we admire another artist’s use of color and set our goal to color just like them. But we’re trying to find your unique color creativity, not turn you into a professional copy-cat! We also get wrapped up in genres, I want to do anime or I want to color like the impressionists and we ignore any information which doesn’t fall into our chosen style. Stop! Never close an educational door! Explore everything and be open to every concept. It will all eventually add up to something uniquely you.

3. Spend more time observing everyday life. Good artists are constant and careful observers. Set down your phone, turn off the television, turn down the music and other distractions. You can’t color what you don’t know. Start watching the world and paying attention to details.

4. The more you see color, the more color you’ll see. You won’t find many light-medium-dark blending combinations in real life. Start looking at real colors, real shade, and real shadow. Most objects are not the colors you assume!

5. Play color games. As you’re spending more time looking at the world and the real colors of life, start playing color games to sharpen your color senses. Sometimes I look at objects and brainstorm 5 different ways to color them (hint, there’s never just one way to color anything!) So for instance, I might look at a banana and come up with 5 different ways to color the same yellow banana. Another color game I play is to deliberately hunt for certain colors. I might try to find G85 or B32 somewhere in the room around me. Sometimes the color you’re trying to find is not the actual color of an object but in the way light is hitting it (like a V20 shadow on a white hat or E35 in the center crease of an open book). A third game is just to look at something and name all the colors I see in it. Being aware of color so that you can use it later is very important!

6. Repeat class projects. For those of you who have purchased lots of online classes, go back through the old videos and materials, maybe even repeat the class. If it’s a beginner follow-the-leader class, try repeating it with a different set of colors. Or maybe look at the class project analyze why the colors originally appealed to you. Deconstructing projects often helps you understand why the instructor chose to do things a certain way and this can help you make your own color choices.

7. Start thinking about how you’d do things. In step 5 I mentioned a color game, coming up with multiple ways to color the same object. Thinking through how to do something is a very useful exercise, almost as important as actually doing it. So if you’re driving behind a red car, think about the process you’d use to color a red car. Would you underpaint? Which supplies might work best? Here, you’re practicing the planning a project rather than analyzing the color you see.

8. Take more open-format classes. Having the instructor hand you pre-tested blending combinations is what prevented you from learning to pick your own colors. Instead of taking more of these classes, try open art-based classes where the entire class works on the same project but picks their own colors based on what they personally see. You can also cross-over and take classes outside your medium. Try a colored pencil class but use Copics, you’ll have to use your brain to convert the class supply list to the new medium. I personally watch a lot of watercolor videos and convert them to Copic!

The most important thing to keep in mind is:

You can learn to pick your own colors for all your projects.

It’s not a magic skill, there’s no talent involved.

People learn to do it all the time.

It takes time to get comfortable with the color selection process and you’ll need experience to do it fast and efficiently, but you can totally do this!

And it’s worth learning.

Because until you pick out your own colors for your own projects, you’re just following the leader.

Picking your own colors is the starting point for becoming the artist you were always meant to be.

Classes on Color Selection

At Vanilla Arts, we integrate applied color theory into every class lesson.

All Vanilla classes involve color but these three have a more intensive focus:

Autumn on Fire

A fall maple leaf with blazing red and orange, tempered by shiny wet water droplets.

Dewy Leaf

Artistic Coloring Kits are everything you need to challenge yourself with intermediate to advanced level images.

Explore the realistic texture of leaves which we normally blend smooth.

Plus, explore the magnification and color inside water droplets

Let your skill & creativity be the star of the image, not the stamp art. Ideal for large-scale projects in Copic Marker, colored pencil, or watercolor

Kit includes: digital stamp, suggested supply list, photo references, guide to shade and shadow & underpainting advice, color map & coloring process tips & photo collage

Select supplies used in Dewy Leaf:

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