Hot take: I was overcomplicating gradients for no reason

I used to spend HOURS fiddling with like 8 color stops and radial positions trying to make sunset backgrounds. Then I saw this post from a dev in Portland who just used three stops and a linear gradient. Took me 10 minutes to copy their approach and my sky scene looked better than anything I had made in months. That was the moment I realized I was trying to be too fancy when simple does the job. Now I stick to max 4 stops and let the browser blend them naturally. Has anyone else found that less code actually makes their CSS art look more realistic?

2 comments

2 Comments

patricia38511h ago

Tbh that's a great point but gradients with only 3 stops can sometimes look a little flat if you're doing something like a sunset where you need that warm glow in the middle. Just make sure your middle stop is a bit lighter than you think it should be so the browser blends it right.

bailey.xena44m ago

@patricia385 oh totally, i always mess up the middle stop lighter tip... learned that the hard way with a purple sky once.