Color theory is a very interesting and underappreciated field of study. Surely you’ve heard of some connections with emotions and colors. For example, red for love, green for envy, black for anger.
Red is a very ancient and popular color. It can mean many different things, depending on the shade and contrast. Think about the red coats on soldiers, or the royal robes of a king. It can be on rich red hearts, or it can stain white snow as a symbol of death. For Tessa, red is bright and eye-catching. It’s also a symbol of strength and courage. I enjoy putting red in the backgrounds of my illustrations, so that there will be elements in common with our little superhero. But I do not often use it in big shapes. Red is so bright and so eye-catching that I can’t use it too much, especially not for my speech bubbles.
Blue is a calm and quiet color, pure and sweet. A bright blue can be exciting and futuristic, like lightning. A deep blue can be mysterious, like the night sky or the deep ocean. A pale blue can be the vast sky. But blue has a very specific emotional connotation: blue is the color of sadness. When something scary or sad is about to happen, I like to use a dull, dark blue.
Yellow is the most common color in this book. It’s in Super Tess’ super suit, it’s in the buildings around town, and it’s sometimes even in the ground and sky. In this book, yellow is the color of happiness, activity, and excitement. Whenever Super Tess is really happy, excited, or flying around, I’ll use this color in the picture! Since blue can be a little sad, and yellow is so bright and happy, I might use it a little too much!
In this picture, I use both yellow and blue, to balance out the simple landscape with some fantastical colors!
I hope this was interesting!
