Method 2- Adobe Photoshop

Method 2 requires that you have a subscription to Adobe Photoshop. There are free options to do similar color picking, but I will only be detailing the Photoshop process in this blog.

Method 2- Photoshop

Photoshop makes it fairly simple to pull out color from a reference photograph. In a nutshell, you pull a blob of color to the side of your image. Then you can use this isolated blob of color to match your colored pencils. Let’s get into how to do it if you’d like to try this method.

Pros and Cons of the Photoshop Method

Positives

Once you get the hang of this method, it is fairly easy. Another bonus is that you are using software to isolate a pure color. It is very hard for our eye to see specific hues when an area is surrounded by other colors. Adobe Photoshop gives you an exact color representation that can be used to make an accurate match to your colored pencils.

Negatives

A negative of this method is that you have to pay for Adobe Photoshop. You have to buy a monthly subscription for it instead of buying a one-time license like you used to be able to do. If it’s within your budget, I think Photoshop and Lightroom can be very beneficial for artists, but there are free workarounds that you can find as well.

Using Photoshop will require a bit of time, although not much. I personally don’t use this method because I use the last technique that I will describe to you in the next blog.

Let me know what you think. Have you tried picking colors with Adobe Photoshop? Do you like it? If you haven’t, would you try it? Have you seen anyone do it differently?

For the next blog, I will go into Method #3 of color picking, which will be using an app to isolate colors.

Until then, happy coloring.