Color Alchemy: A Fun Hands-on Approach to Color Theory for Surface Designers and Digital Artists

Color is one of the most amazing tools we have as artists and surface designers! In Color Alchemy, we’ll take an interactive, hands-on approach to color theory, exploring primary and secondary colors, tints, tones, shades, contrast, and value—all the most important ingredients for beautiful color palettes.  I’ve never liked the term color theory — it sounds too dry and academic. That’s why I named this class Color Alchemy — because it celebrates color with experimenting, mixing and exploring to see how colors interact!

What We’ll Cover

Each lesson is concise and to the point, with clear explanations and real-world applications.

Primary & secondary colors – the building blocks of any great palette

Tints, tones & shades – simple tools to add depth and variation

Contrast & value – to help make your colors pop

A quick trick to check if your art has enough contrast

Color perception — how colors change in different scenarios

Special Thanks to Nadia Grapes

Throughout the class I’ll be using a beautiful floral pattern by artist, Nadia Grapes to illustrate the concepts in the lessons. She has graciously given you permission to use her artwork too — for free! It’s available right in the class resources. I encourage you to visit her stores on CreativeMarket.com or Adobe Stock to see the rest of the beautiful artwork she has available!

Who This Class Is For

This class is perfect for surface designers, illustrators, and creatives who want to develop a stronger understanding of color and how to apply it in their work, especially those who are self-taught and haven’t had any formal art education. Whether you create patterns in Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Procreate, or traditional media, these lessons will help you use color more intentionally and effectively.

The Next Step

In Color Alchemy you’ll learn about all the ingredients of color—primaries, secondaries, warm and cool colors, shades, tints, contrast, and more. After that, you’re ready for my Color Recipes class, where we’ll take those ingredients and cook up amazing color palettes, with recipes you can use again and again to create strong, well-balanced, beautiful colorways.

DOWNLOAD LINK: Color Alchemy: A Fun Hands-on Approach to Color Theory for Surface Designers and Digital Artists