Background photo color can really make your photo pop!
Do you ever have trouble selecting a color for the background of a scrapbook page or maybe an art journal page? If you have something that you really want to stand out, your background will really make a difference. Often, we look for colors in a photo to pull out and use the same color or a shade of it, to pull colors from the photo out onto the page, so to speak. However, look what happens when you use a color that really isn’t a highly noticeable color in the photo.
You could argue there is an itsy, bitsy amount of blue in the sky in the background of the photo, yet it really isn’t even the color of blue used on the page background, or that there is blue in her jeans. Maybe you’d be right to think that is why it works. Anyway, there is no doubt about the fact that the little yellow Volkswagen in is picture practically jumps off the page!
Triad Color Scheme
The real key to this color scheme is the fact that when you look at a color wheel, one option for a great color combo is to use a triad color scheme. That is where you use three equidistant points on the color wheel. Take a look at the way this looks in this example, and notice that the triad color scheme has been completed on the page by adding the buttons in that third color. The colors used on the page may be nudged a little one way or the other to get the look you want, but they are close enough that you can see the concept at work.
Notice how there is open space, referred to as “white space” (whether it is white or not!) left at the bottom left. Just because a page is 12″ x 12″ doesn’t mean you need to fill all 144 square inches of the page with everything you can think of!
Next time you really want a photo to stand out, try using a triad color theme, and see how your page turns out! Come share it with us over at the Artful Adventures Facebook Group!
If you are a scrapbooker, do you have a certain “style” that anybody could easily recognize? Even if you don’t have a recognizable “style” there are probably items that are your go-to things that you enjoy using over and over on pages you create. That is your style! Maybe you have certain color combinations that have become your style. In my opinion, it doesn’t really matter if you know what “style” is yours, the fact that you get a page done is the reward! The memories and stories are captured. The photos and the stories are what matter!
If you’ve been around me, you know that Layout a Day is something I enjoy participating in. It is an online group where we have a theme and daily prompts to get one page a day completed for a certain month. I have done several of of these now, and I can honestly say that when I look at my own work, I am all over the place as far as a “style” goes. That’s because part of what I enjoy is trying different things. Even though most of the pages I create during these events are digital, I still try all kinds of things; techniques, templates, I even use two different software programs when I create digitally!