Build a Small Color Palette
Give every color a job, from the outline to the brightest highlight.
Your result
A five-color palette and a flat-color slime with a readable face.
01What you will learn
- Separate outline, shadow, body, highlight and eye colors.
- Use clear lightness differences instead of collecting similar greens.
- Apply flat color while keeping the contour intact.
Start with: Your connected silhouette from lesson two, or the silhouette practice file.
02See the technique
One-color silhouette
16 × 16 pixels
A small palette with a purpose
16 × 16 pixels
Outline
#243D38
Shadow
#27856A
Body
#66D9A6
Highlight
#D1FAD3
Eyes
#FFFFFF
03Follow the steps
- 1
Read the five color roles
The palette below runs from dark outline to shadow, body, highlight and eye white. Compare how light each one looks. The body and shadow must stay visibly different even at a small size.
Five swatches with five distinct jobs.
- 2
Color inside the contour
Choose the body green and paint the interior with the pencil, leaving a one-pixel dark rim. The silhouette is solid, so filling it immediately would recolor the outline too. Once you have separated the interior, use fill on the remaining enclosed area.
A flat green body inside the original outline.
- 3
Add a tiny face
Draw two small white eye clusters with a dark pupil in each. Keep the eyes level, separated by a few body pixels, and comfortably inside the contour. Check the face at a small zoom before adding more detail.
Two readable eyes without changing the silhouette.
- 4
Keep the palette small
Try a different body color if you like, but choose a matching shadow and highlight as a group. The Palette Generator can help you explore options; return to your course project to apply the colors you chose.
A deliberate palette, ready for the shading lesson.
04Practice in Pikanim
Resume your silhouette, add the body color and two eyes, and keep the shadow and highlight colors ready for the next lesson.
Opens a 16 × 16 canvas with the lesson's starting pixels. Your work saves in the Workspace.
05Check your result
Compare your own work with these checkpoints. Check each one when your result is ready.
Progress saves in this browser. No account needed.