From the course: Graphic Design Foundations: Color

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Unifying color grounds

Unifying color grounds

From the course: Graphic Design Foundations: Color

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Unifying color grounds

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- Although the word ground is usually associated with the Earth's surface, in image making, it refers to a primary base coat of paint or background color in a work. It's purpose is to unify elements in an image, creating a harmonious color field. It's also meant to provide an environment for the colors to react to, adding to the color language. A ground creates a kind of family connection, similar to the use of limited palette. You can use both a limited palette and a ground to create color unity, keeping in mind that the colors that sit on top of the ground work best when there's a color reaction. If these colors on top are too similar to the ground, the relationship is a dud. Here's a painting that I created for My Little Pony: Under the Sparkling Sea. This is where I started, with the drawing on a pink pastel tone paper. You can see the paint applied to the ground color. I used opaque watercolor, and colored pencil, and pastel for this part. The pink becomes both the binder of all…

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