Olive cyanblue salmon magentapink
color palette story 1
I’ve been following @Morningcrocodiles on Threads for awhile. She’s an artist based in Germany and I love her art. Almost everyday, she shares one of her, what she calls “doodles” and they really are just so fun to look at. I love the way she reimagines ordinary objects and the way she makes her drawings come off the page.
At the end of every month, she posts the next month’s drawing challenge and for January, the theme was to be “Fantasy”. I’d already tried someone else’s drawing challenge but the prompts felt too simple so I didn’t finish but it was the word “Fantasy” that drew me into screenshotting this one. I don’t read, write or draw anything that feels “fantastical” by my description and because of that I had a very limited perception of fantasy as a genre - very dragon and dungeons and swords and caves. Very pretty and colorful and perfect clouds and perfect weather. But since starting this challenge, I’ve learned that by definition, Fantasy is:
set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world.
..which is honestly the type of art I make. Art where my inner child is set in a home where I am loved by my parents. Art where I imagine myself consoled with big hugs from my friends while I lean in and cry. Illustrations featuring long hugs from my father. By definition, that is fantasy and I appreciate that. I’ve been writing and drawing myself in different timelines as a way to alchemize and now I understand, that could be considered “Fantasy.”
The Color Palette
On January 1, as I finished up the other parts of my morning routine, I checked out the drawing prompt of the day. As I scanned the post, I realized there was also a color palette assigned to the challenge. I hadn’t noticed that before but seeing the color palette made me very excited because the way I color my illustrations is something that means so much to me. I’ve always loved color and when I was a TV and Video Director, that was one of the compliments I received most about my work, “It’s so bright and colorful.” Color is something I take pride in.
Now, this specific color palette is a palette I would have never put together. I tend to lean towards bright but to be honest, I don’t draw from color palettes anyway. I draw based on feeling. What color goes with this emotion? What color reflects this emotion in an exaggerated way? How can I think outside the box on my color choices here? I also use monochrome a ton. I just love monochrome in general. A monochromatic outfit? Forever my favorite.
The color palette for this month is very olive and cyan and magenta pink and khaki and dark chocolate. There are about 12 colors to choose from and I don’t have super specific names for all of them but you’ll notice the palette in the illustrations below.
The Illustrations
Our prompt for Day 1 was Elemental. Now for someeee reason, my first thought was the periodic table of elements (?!?) so I went to look at all of the elements like how in the world am I to draw Nitrogen?! I landed on H20 and drew this:
I was satisfied for the days drawing. It was a start. But later that afternoon, MorningCrocodiles posted her daily illustration which referred to the four elements as Fire Wind Earth Water.
Ahhh! Made much more sense so - back to the drawing board.
For Fire, you see two girls gathering wood for their campfire. Camping is something I’ve always wanted to do but have been slightly afraid to do. My fear immediately thinks of bears and sounds of things I cannot see. But it’s on my to-do list and I will do it one day. But first, I’ll get my feet wet with Airstreamer in the woods.
What’s so fun about this drawing challenge is that it’s truly renewing the way I use color. I don’t know that I would have thought to use dark olive as the color of the sky or goldenrod as the color of the moon. A magenta pink fire? Yes please!
Because of the richness of the olive, it still feels like night. Because of the neon in the magenta pink, that fire still has fiery.
For Air, I immediately thought about wind and I knew the wind would need to be assumed. Here you see a young lady tightening her coat as she embraces the chilly autumn wind on her way home from happy hour in a city I have not yet named.
Here we have Water. A much simpler illustration as a lady sets sail for a different coast on a breezy evening.
The other thing this drawing challenge inspired for me was my use of borders. As I was drawing the ladies by the fire, the Divine said, Add a border. And I did and now I am obsessed! You may see borders on much of my work in this season.
Lastly, we have Earth. For this one, I was inspired by the fact that whatever I want to do in this world, I can. As a Divine Being, there is nothing that is impossible for me. If my heart can yearn for it, it can be real. Now, on some days, it is easy for me to wallow in my reality but I know the truth.
I appreciate this palette so much because the more I illustrate with it, the more fantastical it feels and the more open I become as a result. Using magenta pink as the color of continents? I don’t know that I would have saw that as a thing before this month but it works for me and I am proud.
Tending to my imagination has been important work for me and writing and drawing challenges are a big part of how I care for it.
Before I go, here’s Day 2: Amulet. Which, although I kind of knew what it was, I had to look up the definition for:
an ornament or small piece of jewelry thought to give protection against evil, danger, or disease.
The amulet in this illustration is the necklace. I’ve drawn jewelry before but being inspired by the Fantasy theme encouraged me to draw what felt like “jewels”. Also, another border! (lol)
This color palette has absolutely transported me somewhere marvelous, wondrous, somewhere completely new. I wake up everyday giddy about what the prompt will be.
The use of color palettes has reinvigorated my creativity so much that I went and screenshot like 9 or 10 of her palettes from previous months. I spent most of yesterday drawing portraits with a muted lavender coral-ish palette. It is beautiful. Will share soon. 🌀
About Meet Me In The Deep
My name is Diamonde Williamson and I am a Writer, an Illustrator and an Artist.
Meet Me In The Deep is an invitation into my world through art and words. Much of my art today deals with healing the inner child I abandoned to protect my mother. After going no contact with my mother in 2023, I was led back to writing and illustration as forms of healing and I am so thankful for it.
Deeply Personal: Notes from Facing My Mother Wound is a book featuring a series of memoiric notes that document one of the most painful, transformational and honest times in my life: the moment I faced my mother wound.
Such beautiful palette!