How I Reduced the Amount of Colours & Made the Pattern Better!

Did you know that human eye can distinguish about 1 million colours? The world around us is colourful and beautiful, but even though we can see lots of colour shades it's all very different when we speak about cross stitching.

The cross stitcher's comfort and budget matter! Not only should the designer make the pattern beautiful, he must keep in mind how much the stitcher will spent when buying all the necessary items. That's why I decided to retouch one of my designs. The goal was set as follows: 1) improve the pattern making the objects more volumized; 2) reduce the number of colours used.

Here is the pattern I started to work with:

The initial version of the pattern had 57 DMC colours! At first I tried to make it just as the reference picture was, but that was a mistake. There were too many colours and the difference between the highlights and shadows was not really obvious. A small reminder: the highlights and shadows help your artwork seem volumized!

I gave my pattern a stern look. What should be changed? The leaves begged for some highlighting, the ribbon was not shining as a real silk ribbom should, and I've thought I could reduce the number of red shades. So the first step was adding some whites on the pattern. Don't be afraid to use white and off-white colours on your designs! There are some materials that have almost white highlights: for example, metal and silk. Also I have changed the reds on the candy in order to use the same shades as on the strawberry. Yes, you got it right: the colours are different on the strawberry and on the candy on the pattern above! But does it really matter? I don't think so.

Besides I have made the difference between neighbouring colours more clear, so the colour gradient is more obvious. Ready to see the new version of the pattern? It is bellow!

Just look how shiny the ribbon is! Or that heart in the bird's beak! The pattern has certainly become better. And the most magical fact is it now has 43 colours instead of 57! Isn't it fantastic?! I will say more and more again: don't be afraid of the contrast! Don't be afraid to change your design! Don't be afraid to use white and black colours!

The pattern is available for the purchase. The links will open if you click the pictures. My Etsy shop is XStitchCatwalk, see you there!)

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