Emotional Color Harmony in Normandy’s Changing Light (Weekly Challenge #170)
- Natalia C.
- May 30
- 4 min read
This week’s challenge offers a quiet but powerful opportunity — painting one location seen through many emotional lenses. We’re heading to Les Andelys, a small town in Normandy, France, with a sweeping view across the Seine river and the ruins of Richard the Lionheart’s castle on the hill. Even better, all four reference images were taken by our lovely co-host @marie_adelaide right from her window. The result is a poetic study of how time, light, and weather transform the feeling of a single scene.
From golden twilight to heavy mist, from blue-hour lamps to soft pink dawn, these photos invite you to explore how color harmony can express mood far beyond just copying what's there. It’s an ideal week to slow down and paint what you feel — not just what you see.
Focus Point: Emotional Color Harmony
Our focus this week is emotional color harmony — using color intentionally to evoke a feeling, mood, or state of mind. It’s not about matching reference colors exactly. It’s about interpreting them through your own lens.
So how do we create color harmony that carries emotion? It begins with choices:
Which temperature dominates (warm or cool)?
How saturated or muted are the colors?
Is the value range tight and gentle or dramatic and high contrast?
Each of this week’s photos offers a distinct palette. Misty grey blues feel quiet and thoughtful. Golden clouds feel warm and nostalgic. Soft violet evenings feel a touch surreal.
Ask yourself:
What do these colors feel like?
What mood do I want to create?
Can I limit my palette to enhance that feeling?
Read the full guide to this technique here:
Analyzing This Week’s Reference Photos
Now let’s dive into the reference photos and explore how each one invites you to play with color to evoke different emotions.
Photo 1: Golden Sky over the Seine
The warm glow of sunset filters through ochre skies and lights up the hillside castle. This scene radiates warmth and peace. Golden light washes over the clouds, softening the contrast between land and sky.
Challenge as a photo: Balancing the golden tones with the green land can be tricky — it risks splitting into unrelated zones.
Focus Questions:
Can you shift the greens toward gold or neutral to unify the palette?
Where does your eye go first, and why?
Tips:
Let yellows and warm neutrals dominate.
Use gentle transitions, not sharp edges.
Desaturate foreground greens to let the sky lead emotionally.
Photo 2: Morning Mist with Blue Sky
Soft fog hugs the rooftops while cool light pushes through from behind. This version feels still and silent — perfect for exploring gentle cool harmonies. The castle fades into the distance, and the grass glows faintly beneath the mist.
Challenge as a photo: Fog can flatten your value range. The trick is finding contrast in temperature, not value.
Focus Questions:
Where can you use warm-cool contrast to show light?
Can you blur details to support softness?
Tips:
Use blue-violet shadows and minty highlights.
Blend edges and reduce outlines.
Let the sky shift gently from warm horizon to cool zenith.
Photo 3: Evening Lights and River Reflections
Streetlamps glow against dark blue clouds, and their reflections ripple in the river. This scene offers quiet drama. The colors are subdued but full of emotional pull — especially in the glowing oranges against deep blue.
Challenge as a photo: Balancing light sources with an otherwise dark palette can be overwhelming if contrast is too harsh.
Focus Questions:
Can you use subtle purples or teals instead of black shadows?
Will you let the lights be soft or sharp?
Tips:
Warm up the lamp glows to golden orange.
Desaturate the rest of the scene to support it.
Reflect color into water with broken strokes or texture.
Photo 4: Pink Sky over Castle and Town
Soft pink clouds drift above green hills in the early morning or evening light. This image is gentle and slightly surreal. The sky offers pastel color harmony that could shift toward dreamy or magical, depending on your choices.
Challenge as a photo: Pinks can dominate or clash if not supported. You’ll need to find ways to harmonize land and sky.
Focus Questions:
Will you echo pinks in the ground or neutralize them?
Can you lean into soft purples and cool greys?
Tips:
Mix in lavenders, greys, and soft neutrals.
Use layering to mute saturation where needed.
Keep shapes soft and rounded to match the gentle palette.
This week, take a slower breath with your painting. Let the light shift, and let your palette follow how the scene feels. Post your interpretation by Thursday, 5 June 2025, 23:59 CET, using the hashtag #landscapeartclub170 and tagging @landscapeartclub. You can download the hi-res photos in the forum post.
Need more ideas? Browse the Sunset folder in our Reference Library for more scenes that whisper instead of shout.
Happy painting!
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