The Challenges of Being a Colorblind Artist: Everything from Design to Materials and Color Schemes

As an artist, color is everything. It can set the tone and mood for a painting, be used to evoke certain feelings in the viewer, and add depth and complexity to a piece. But for colorblind artists, this presents a unique challenge. Everything from design to color choice to material selection becomes more difficult when you can’t see color the same way as everyone else. In this article, I’ll try to put into words the challenges of being a colorblind artist and how it affects every aspect of my work.

As a furniture sculptor, the design process is one of the most important parts of my job. I have to take into account the shape of the sculpture, options on where it will be displayed, and the overall aesthetic I’m going for. When you can’t see color like everyone else, all of those decisions become that much harder. Sometimes I have to rely on other people to help me choose colors that will work well together. This can be a challenge trying to convey what I “see” in my head because my “green” may not be their “green”. 

For me when it comes to colors and color schemes I can tell what colors work and which ones don’t or don’t work on that particular piece. The majority of the time the way I “see” colors may sound really strange, but I always try to describe it as maybe I see hues and tones. It’s more of a feeling I get inside. The colors either “feel” right or wrong together. Now this works most of the time, but there have been times when I have painted a piece 6 or 7 times before it “feels” right to me. Now the 6 or 7 times means that I’ve had to sand down and re-prime the piece let alone the drying times in between the colors… 

Frustrating you ask??? Yes a bit at times, but the need to create outweighs ties like that. My mom was in my opinion a fantastic artist/painter but unfortunately, she has passed on. The great part is that one of my daughters seemed to have gotten her talent for colors and painting/drawing. I’ll call on her to help me out when I am stuck and sometimes just to get her idea on how she would finish it off… It can be frustrating at times, but the end result is always worth it.

Overall, being a colorblind artist presents its own set of challenges, but it’s nothing that can’t be overcome with a little creativity and perseverance. And at the end of the day, we just see the world a little differently than everyone else. Which is kind of cool when you think about it. Thanks for reading!

If you’re a colorblind artist, I’d love to hear from you in the comments. How does being colorblind affect your work? Let me know what challenges you face and how you overcome them. I’m always interested in hearing new perspectives on this topic. Thanks for reading! Until next time,