So I’ve been making pixel art for a while now and currently I'm making 32x32 tiles. I’ve read most of the guides and am working on my skills, but I keep having a recurring problem regarding colours. I know I will only get better with more practice but I was hoping that someone could help me out a bit to speed things up.

I know the basics of choosing colours, hue shifting, purple hues for outlines/yellow hues for highlight but it always seems that the colours I choose never look right. Currently I’m working on a project that is basically a dungeon so my colours need to dark and eerie while not being just black and grays; I need some colour to the tiles. How do I pick colours that are not going to burn your eyes and seem out of place?
For example, I have a half wall that is made of large boulders and I need it to be dark. It seems like the colours I’m picking (purples and gold- browns) is like someone is taking a paintbrush to the boulders, it doesn’t seem natural. What are some good tones or shades that look natural, but again without using pure blacks and grays? My floor tiles (flat brick and cobblestone) seem to turn out the same, the colours are unnatural, I don’t know what cold tones go with what. I need some contrast between the colour of the wall and the floor.

Sorry if I was unclear, but can anyone try and help?


Edited by Salvatorix - 07 December 2012 at 11:44am