The first of four colour ‘bouquets’.

When we start illustrating a new book we need to chose a palette. We go looking through favourite picturebooks and art books but we also hunt through our photo files. We are always on the look out for colour combinations – harmonious, vibrant, brash, soft – and we often take photos purely for colour. Nature is a great source – obviously – but cities yield  great colour combos too.

Here is a bouquet from Brooklyn.

Click on the images for a closer look at the colours; that urn has mustard peppering its rose pink…

On Friday’s post, an autumn bouquet.