Color is a dance, a tango of shadow and light
As we watch colors swirl together in a composition, we are drawn into its depth – our eyes lingering over areas of complexity and resting in swaths of pure color. When we see new ways to use our favorite colors, we are energized and inspired to try new mediums.
I look to the world around me for inspiration – the bits of sunlight on a petal or shining through a piece of sea glass; reflections on the water; the deep, rich shadows under a canopy of trees. Looking through the lens of my camera I can focus on the brilliant and softly hidden color combinations that nature gives us every single day.
I hope that you find the following photo galleries full of color inspiration for your next project! For more inspiration and to see how I create color palettes from my photography, take a peek into my book: Artful Color for Creative Projects.
Green
"All theory, dear friend, is gray, but the golden tree of life springs ever green."
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Teal
"Watery, exotic, a glowing gem of green and blue. No matter the name: turquoise, aquamarine, peacock or cerulean, I want to dive in."
-Beverly Ash Gilbert
Blue
"If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy. If the simplest things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive."
-Elinore Duse
Purple
"When I am an old woman I shall wear purple, with a red hat which doesn't go and doesn't suit me, and I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves and satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter."
-Jenny Joseph
Pink
"I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe
in miracles."
-Aubry Hepburn
Red
"Dance, sing, twirl
Lay down in a patch of sunshine
And eat a bowl of strawberries"-Beverly Ash Gilbert
Orange
"He hangs in shades the orange bright
Like golden lamps in a green night"-Andrew Marvell
Yellow
"Who dares to call a weed
That which throws a ray of yellow sun
Into a dark corner."-Beverly Ash Gilbert
Neutral
"Will you love me in December as you do in May,
Will you love me in the good old fashioned way?
When my hair has all turned gray.
Will you kiss me than and say,
That you love me in December as you do in May?"-James Walker
For more inspiration and to see how I created color palettes from the photos in these galleries, take a peek into my book Artful Color for Creative Projects: