Story time

One day, while scrolling through Instagram, I decided to revisit my own profile. I clicked on a three-marker challenge reel I had made, and while rewatching, a massive idea came to mind.

What if I created a game that helped me understand colour theory better?

If I turned colour theory into a game, I’d never run out of ideas for my sketchbook. Every challenge would become a new creative adventure, and over time my Instagram feed would naturally become colourful, varied, and full of experiments.

That simple thought became the beginning of the 12 Dominant Colors Challenge.

How the Challenge Works

The challenge begins with the traditional 12-colour wheel.

First, choose one colour from the wheel. This becomes your dominant colour.

Next, find the colour directly opposite your dominant colour. Then find the two colours beside that opposite colour.

Those four colours become your entire palette.

For each artwork, only those four colours may be used.

To make the challenge even more interesting, the main subject of the artwork must begin with the same letter as the dominant colour.

For example:

• Yellow begins with “Y” for Yam, Yumberry, Yogurt, Yacht, Yakitori…

A simple set of rules suddenly creates endless possibilities.

Welcome to Orbit 1

Each round of the challenge is called an Orbit.

Orbit 1 contains twelve matches. Each colour on the colour wheel represents a single match.

The rules remain the same throughout Orbit 1.

Later Orbits will introduce new layers of creativity, including:

• Niche prompts
• Character design
• Storytelling
• Composition studies
• And other creative twists

As each Orbit builds upon the previous one, the challenge becomes deeper and more exciting.

Why I’m Documenting Everything

I started with Yellow. I chose Yaki Gyoza!

This first sketchbook spread marks the beginning of a creative journey that I’m documenting from start to finish.

Eventually, this journey will become a book.

Rather than showing only finished illustrations, I want to document the entire creative process.

It’s about:

• Making more art and becoming more productive as an artist
• Exploring different colour palettes
• Fun facts about culture and knowledge
• Things I learn along the way
• Ways each experiment could be improved
• Finished artworks
• Every stage of the creative process

The goal isn’t perfection.

The goal is to explore life through art in the most exciting way possible.

Let’s see what a simple art challenge and a few creative rules can do!

Welcome to the official beginning of the 12 Dominant Colors Challenge.

Join me for the journey.