how do you go about picking the colors you use in your art? you seem to have such a good feel for which ones look nice
I have studied a lot and I like to select colours that I associate with memories.
A few people have asked me about colour, so I will explain further.
I recommend studying from anything that has colours you like. I have studied primarily from a selection of video games because I have been around video games since I was very young, and I have strong memories associated with them, so their colours impact me. What impacts you will probably be completely different, but the concept is the same: it is best to study what engages you.
I have difficulty understanding written theory, so I have this 'practical study' approach:
Before starting, keep in mind that you do not need to show or tell anyone about your studies, so there is no need to feel ashamed if your studies are inaccurate.
Find a photograph or image of something that engages you, and copy it without using the eyedropper tool. Guess which colours to use, and copy the image as best as you can.
Use the eyedropper tool on the image and paint a separate copy using those eyedropped colours.
Compare your colour guesses in your first study to the actual colours in your second study. When you do this a lot, you can naturally remember, 'oh, this type of brown contrasts nicely with this shade of blue, and I associate this specific colour combination with a childhood photograph of a river.' (This is just one example. You can study from anything.)
Use the knowledge and memories you gain from studying to create original artwork.
The above image is a compilation of a few of my studies from 2017. It was much easier to create original artwork after studying what I liked.
I think it is also wise to pay attention to how light and dark different colours are when they are next to each other.
In most drawing programs, you can make a layer, fill it with the colour black, and change the mode of this black layer from 'Normal' to 'Color'. When you move this black layer on top of another layer, it will show you how dark and light the colors are.
These two cats are similar in their dark and light values, but one has different shades of red and the other has pink, orange, and blue. Of course you do not need to use colours that contrast against each other, and you do not need to use a variety of colours either, but it can help open your mind to different colour combinations if you are frustrated with colours.