Colors play an important role in setting the emotional context of a painting or a portrait. We could use the word "mood" to describe the impact of color. But mood is broader, as it is impacted by lightness and darkness of the photo.
As for colors, and although some of the impact is culturally-specific, I will illustrate it with few pictures, starting with one of my recent work with Kristen N.
Kristen intended to write a blog about breakups, and how a woman can overcome the blues surrounding a break-up, and stay serene and a loving woman. We chose a white background, a red dress, and few red roses.
Subsequently, Kristen wanted to imply happiness, and how a woman can recover her inner passion. We chose a red background and a white dress: white to imply happiness, and red to imply passion. Luckily, in some Asian cultures, red is also the color of happiness. It worked cross culturally.
Pastel colors are dreamy. They are more often associated with serenity and inner calm. Working with Ana M., she was at a stage in her life where she felt fulfilled, as a woman. In a stable relationship for a while, she was living the dream in South Florida. Soft pink, soft unsaturated blue, and her skin tones, give the picture below a blissful impression.
Blue is most often associated with Freedom, Perseverance. Laura M is free-spirited. In French, we could have used the word "Sauvageonne" (wild child) to describe her, which has a very positive connotation in this context. Laura has a bubbly personality, and she is free-spirited and strong willed. So we used a saturated blue, but also used bright white and red, to highlight the freedom component.
Finally, I had the pleasure to work with Sara R twice. On her first photoshoot, she indicated how close to Nature she is and wants to be. I had to use Green, you can't escape the associate of the color green with mother nature. I chose a softer shade of green, that matched Sara's freshness. I decided to shy away from a saturated green, that is often associated with money.
If this blog was useful, leave me a comment, and have a wonderful artistic day !
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