Color Theory: The Hills of Ireland

Yay, less than one week until St. Patrick's Day! As an Irish gal, I'm pretty excited because this is one of my favorite holidays. I love listening to Irish tunes, eating a boiled dinner with my family, and getting all dolled up in green. To kickstart this pre-St. Patrick's day week I really wanted to do an Irish themed Color Theory post using photos of Ireland. However, I had one small dilemma; I have never been to Ireland, so I don't own such photos. Thankfully, the luck of the Irish was on my side when I remembered that my photographer friend and fellow Irish lass, Coleen of GingerPics had taken a trip there not too long ago! She was kind enough to let me use two of her photos for this post so that you all could enjoy the gorgeous views of Ireland.

The first photo is from the cliffs of Inis Mor, on the Aran Islands of Ireland. It's my absolute favorite of Coleen's photos from Ireland. The vivid blues and greens are so beautiful, and it makes me want to visit the homeland that much more! 

This second photo is of the countryside in County Kilkenny, Ireland, and it captures Ireland exactly as I imagine it; fields of green with sheep laying about. I love how many shades of green are in this single photo. 

Wouldn't you just love to have one of these photos decorating your home for Saint Patrick's day? Make sure you check out all of Coleen's photos of Ireland on her Etsy site!

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Color Theory: Washed Out to Sea

When I was young, any time a storm hit, my parents would take us to the beach after it had passed to watch the giant waves roll in and crash on the seawall. As a small child, those waves seemed even more monstrous than they already were. I remember always looking forward to the storm's ending so we could make that trip.

When Hurricane Sandy hit a few months ago, I was living by the beach. As the storm started to die down, I felt the urge to head to the beach to survey the scene the way I had growing up. The wind made the short walk a little bit difficult, but it also made for some great waves. Though, at this beach the waves didn't quite reach the seawall, I watched them crash violently against the yacht clubs out on the piers. 

I've heard that sometimes beauty comes from destruction, and that's what I see in this photo. The muted colors of the stormy weather are the inspiration for this "Washed Out to Sea" color board. 

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Color Theory: Autumn

As a graphic designer, color theory plays a huge role in my designing process. Knowing which hues work together is something that's really important and can make or break your design. Lately I've been finding a lot of inspiration in color, so I made a COLOR THEORY board on Pinterest to keep track of my favorite combinations. I'm especially loving the palettes created on Design Seeds and 100 Layer Cake because they include the beautiful photographs that inspired their palettes.  

Today I tried my hand at creating my own color boards using a few of my instagram photos as my source of inspiration. I decided to use autumn themed photos because, to be honest, I don't think I'm going to get away with posting about autumn for very much longer! But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and though the leaves are falling, winter isn't here yet! So without further adieu, here are my autumn color boards... 

AUTUMN ON NEWBURY STREET: 

TREES ON FIRE :

THE SHOW MUST GO ON:

Wishing you all a fabulous holiday! Happy Thanksgiving!!

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