Is it cheating to lift the colours from somebody else's work?

[Stupot]

Every once in a while i sit down and tell myself to start work on a background or a sprite.  The only trouble is I can never get a decent colour scheme going.  I thought to save time I could find an existing image along the same theme of mine, and simply lift the colours from it to use in my own picture.

Is this considered cheating, or is it a good exercise?

[DoorKnobHandle]

Technically, palettes can't be copyrigthed, I think (in fact, I am sure), but it's bad practice. Learn some color theory and it'll come to you by yourself and then you're really gonna know what you're doing and you're going to be able to do stuff with a lot less trial-and-error or luck, but with reason. It will improve your art.

[ildu]

Well, I wouldn't call it cheating, and it is very good practice, provided you understand somewhat why the colors are there and why they work. It's not something people would get pissed off over, so it's pretty much up to you. It's a great gateway to choosing your own colors, too. You just have to restrict yourself so that you don't keep doing it.

[Stupot]

Well I've decided to have a go at copying somebody's palette, from an image I found on Google, if only to see what results I get.

But in the meantime, dkh, do you have any decent links to some colour theory.

Hmm, perhaps this shouldn't be in the general forum?  oh well.

[DoorKnobHandle]

Try this:

http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?topic=922.0

[Nacho]

Hey, if it' s cheating, tell to me ASAP, I am allways copying somebody else' s (specially from the profis) palletes. 

[Nine Toes]

Well, I think that your usual palette might get kind of jealous.  So, yeah it is cheating, you unfaithful bastard.   

[twin-moon]

People always tell me that my colours are wrong, so I use the colours from screenshots.