My project for course: Color Theory: How to Apply It to Your Images

Step 1
The story I initially wrote for these images included a girl pulling a canoe to shore in the distance. After doing the value and color comps, I realized that the concepts didn't need the girl to tell the story of the flower.

Horror (dark and contrasted) - A beautiful flower(s) emits poisonous gasses as a girl pulls a canoe to shore in the background.

Happy (colorful and clear) - A field of beautiful flower(s) glow in the day light as a girl pulls a canoe to shore in the background.

Sad - (A gloomy rainy day) A flower(s) gets rained on.

Step 2
I wasn't sure whether I wanted to show a field of flowers with one or two as the focus or keep it simple with one main flower. After doing the value and color comps I felt the single main flower was the clearest concept to go with. I used the value and color comps to guide me through the moods I was going for.

Step 3
For the happy version, I had the most difficult time deciding how saturated to make the sky and flower. Thinking back over the course, I now realized that I should have looked up references to help me feel more certain about this step.

Step 4
I added a third color, yellow to the clouds to brighten up the sky and build a harmony between the flower and the sky in the happy version.

Step 5
I pushed the contrast between the flower and the sky a lot. The most difficult part was finding the best contrast between the sky and the flower in the Horror image. Because I wanted the lighting to be very dark and the glowing fluid to be bright, I had trouble choosing the appropriate color for the flower. In the end I made it dark because the focus on the fluid was so exciting, but I am not sure this was the right choice. I'll post the other version below.

Step 6
I painted the flower with a little different detail in each of the images to best set the mood. I also added texture to the grasses and rocks in the foreground to add color variation.

This was a more difficult project than I anticipated. I think the most difficult parts for me were choosing the colors for a bright day, and selecting the right texture brushes out of the sea of brushes in that package. I'm going to spend more time on that with my next projects because I see the value and how fast those brushes can add color and interesting detail to a painting.

My favorite part of this project was setting the different moods for the same composition. I am very excited to know how to use color to evoke a feeling better than I did before, and to be able to articulate why something is or isn't working on future projects rather than relying purely on instinct.