Colour Palette Challenge Revisited

[ChickPea]

I happened to notice one of my old maps was on the front page tonight (in that widget thingie that displays random maps). I'd made it for a challenge back in 2016, and had actually forgotten all about it in truth. But ... I do remember that particular challenge was quite tricky and a lot of fun, and thought it might be fun to revisit it.

It was based on an idea from Neyjour, and s/he supplied the palettes of colours that we used. The gist of it is... pick one colour palette from the choices offered and make a map using only the colours in your chosen palette. Link to the original challenge is below.

https://www.cartographersguild.com/s...ad.php?t=35368

We could do it again with Neyjour's palettes, same as before, or, to mix things up a bit, we could perhaps try with some different palettes. I'm open to ideas on this, but... just as a suggestion... maybe selecting one of these sites as the basis for palette choices?

https://wesandersonpalettes.tumblr.com/
https://www.shutterstock.com/blog/25...color-palettes

Choice of palettes aside, I'd suggest sticking with the original rules which, after a bit of discussion, were as follows (copied from Diamond's original post, mostly):

1. Pick a color palette from the selection. Your map must be based on these colours.
2. Post the palette in the first post of your thread.
3. You must use EVERY color in the palette, and you CANNOT use any other color.
4. Try your best to stick to these colours as much as you can. Yes, it's possible to manipulate colours with layer blends/opacity etc, and you can do that. BUT... don't spend all your time trying to find ways to change your colours or introduce new ones that aren't in the palette. The point is to work with a strictly limited set of colours, so try to go with the spirit of the challenge as much as you can. Just don't cheat too much, ok!

It's quite hard to work with limited colours, but hard in a fun way, if that makes sense. I remember really enjoying this challenge, and it would be fun to try again.

[Tiana]

As I derive the most joy from selecting the colors for my creations, this is not for me. Wes Anderson is brilliant, his cinematography and color choices are a cohesive delight. The retro pallets certainly have fantasy mapping potential. And every single one of them lacks that one pungently contrasting color pop that makes my soul sing. They're subdued, I looked through every single pallet and not one said, "Yes, Ti, this is a true delight and you will love creating with just these colors, what a perfect challenge"... instead, my heart whispered, "aw, but picking colors and playing with them is my favorite part..." and these pallets play it much safer than I like to when I make art for me.

I have to give a nod to this from the OG thread: "The winner gets - yep, you guessed it - a lifetime supply of broccoli-flavored Fig Newtons!!! Oh wait, no. You get a Golden Compass. Still pretty awesome, right?"

LOL

If you do it, I'd use the retro pallets, or offer all three as options. I think the retro sets convert very well to fantasy mapping, at least 20 of them I can see working very well. Obviously you should run this challenge if your heart says yes!

[ChickPea]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Tiana. I get where you're coming from, but it's also fun to constrain yourself sometimes and make yourself work to something that's a little outside your comfort zone.

I'd be inclined to say that we pick just one set of palettes, whether Neyjour's, or one of the links I gave (or something else). I feel that using all three would overwhelm with choice, and that can make it difficult to make a decision. (EDIT: To give maximum flexibility, I'm thinking maybe the Shutterstrock retro palettes plus one more colour of your choice would be a good compromise. Those palettes have only four colours, and that would be quite hard to work with. Five colours, with you picking one of them, would work quite well, I think.)

It was bugging me that I couldn't remember who won the original challenge, so I went and looked it up. Behold Chashio's beautiful map! And all from five colours (you can see them in the first post of the thread.)

[ThomasR]

Could make for a pretty odd map ... If I find the time I'd be game.

[J.Edward]

I agree with Thomas, if I have time I will as well.
Some of those palettes were interesting and would definitely be challenging.
All of them are colors I would never pick.

[ChickPea]

I'm open to ideas, if anyone knows of any other sites or images with colour palettes that would be suitable.

[J.Edward]

I would never pick those colors, but that is also why it's challenging.
I tried to select a few that I would maybe be able to do something with.

[MistyBeee]

There's "Honey Fungus" in Neyour's palettes ! I would be forced to be in !
Joke appart, 'love the idea a lot.

[Kellerica]

I know this would be a pain for me, as colours are always something I cook as I go along and they never end up being what I was thinking they would be (if I even was thinking of them beforehand), but I do believe the idea of a challenge is to be... well, challenging and all that. So yeah, I'd be intriqued if it arrived at a point when I have the time.