You might have heard the phrase "paint what you see, not what you know" many times. You "know" that a tomato is red all over, but if you really look at it, the bottom side of it may actually be purple because it is sitting on a purple plate. You "know" that a wall is white, but because of the light conditions it is yellowish in the light and slightly greyish-blue in the shadow.
Colors are difficult to judge well because your eyes and brain constantly correct what you see so that objects make sense. Your brain is built to recognize things quickly, but in painting this correction becomes a problem when you want to put the "real" colors on the canvas.
Take a look at this picture and try to tell what the color is in the shadow.
[todo: Add image with an arrow pointing to the area]
What color would you say it is? Most people answer dark green, maybe gray.
Scroll a little further.
.
.
.
It is actually brown!
[todo: Add image with the color sample isolated as a solid square]
Once the color is isolated, it becomes obvious. Inside the full image, surrounded by other colors and influenced by light and contrast, it is much harder to judge correctly.
What looks like "green" might actually be a cool gray. A shadow that feels purple might be a muted brown. White is rarely pure white: it can be light orange or slightly greenish gray. The same problem exists with value. The well-known chessboard shadow illusion shows two squares being exactly the same color even though one is "white" and the other is "black".
[todo: insert image]
Reflections of other surfaces, shadows, lighting conditions, and surrounding colors all contribute to this confusion. It is genuinely difficult to see a color separately from everything around it while mixing and applying paint.
This is where the editor can help.
When you upload your reference, the editor identifies the most distinctive colors in the image.
Round markers appear directly on the photo, each representing a sampled color from a specific area.
Each marker:
[TODO Add screenshot: image with visible color markers placed on key areas]
Instead of guessing which colors are where, you immediately see the dominant sky, grass, skin tones, shadows, and highlights.
You can click anywhere on the image to add your own sample.
Click on:
A new color marker appears at that location.
[TODO Add small thumbnail: manual click adding a color marker]
Drag the marker until it is exactly where you want to check the color.
Sometimes a few pixels make a noticeable difference:
You can also delete color markers that are not necessary.
All sampled colors appear in the side panel as a list.
Each line:
Clicking a color reveals:
Seeing colors grouped vertically makes comparison easier than scanning the whole image.
You quickly notice:
[Add screenshot: side panel with expanded color details]
Open the editor full screen on a tablet or laptop beside your easel. You can also export and print the image in full resolution with markers visible.
Now to painting! Mix your paint, load the brush or the palette knife, and hold it close to the color circle on screen or paper.
Because the sample area is clearly marked, you're comparing the color in a relative isolation, which makes it so much easier.
Without structured sampling:
Here:
You spend less time correcting mixtures and more time applying paint.
Try it with your next reference photo and build a palette before you start painting.
Try Paint From Photos and simplify your painting process right now!