Need help with DH's Christmas gift

I painted these for my husband to hang above his turntables (which are placed oh so lovely in my living room)



my problem is, I want to paint the background a greyish blue color... it would go with the whole tone of the paintings... HOWEVER...

my living room is painted in all earth tones...
here is the area directly perpendicular from the turntables... Its a nutmeg color:


and here is where the paintings will be hung about an inch apart and centered...The wall is a light mocha color.


So I don't think the whole blue/grey will blend with our walls... Not that it's THAT important, but I like the whole color scheme of our furniture.. our couches are olive green, etc etc... Do you think I can get away with a burgandy or a nutmeg for the background? Or do you think I will lose the effect of the shadows...

here is a close up of the main canvas which is about 18' X 24'... I don't know if you can tell, but I didn't use black, its more of a dark grey...

I don't know if they need color. Have you tried holding them up to the wall you'll put them on? Maybe instead of coloring the painting, you can frame it in an interesting way instead...
HTH!

OK - wow. Those are AMAZING. You are truly a gifted artist!! They have so much energy and funky spirit and he is going to love them!

So, my uneducated non-artist opinion is that you should leave the background the color it is now. Unless they look totally different in person than they are coming out in the pics, I think the light background makes the shadows pop and brings the paintings to life, almost like they're jumping off the canvas. I think the blue-gray might clash with your walls and I'm afraid a darker color might draw too much attention to the background and not enough to the center where your incredible work is.

JMO!

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Posted by jaiese

I don't know if they need color. Have you tried holding them up to the wall you'll put them on? Maybe instead of coloring the painting, you can frame it in an interesting way instead...
HTH!

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they're gallery stretched canvas... so they're about an inch and 1/2 thick...(not really meant for framing) I had planned on arranging them with the large one centered and the 2 breakers (12 X12) either flushed against the first canvas, or spaced about an inch on either side.. I might include a few more canvases with various circles around it (hard to explain)

I don't think the image will POP unless I paint the background of the canvas. Even if its light...

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Posted by cookiemonster

OK - wow. Those are AMAZING. You are truly a gifted artist!! They have so much energy and funky spirit and he is going to love them!

So, my uneducated non-artist opinion is that you should leave the background the color it is now. Unless they look totally different in person than they are coming out in the pics, I think the light background makes the shadows pop and brings the paintings to life, almost like they're jumping off the canvas. I think the blue-gray might clash with your walls and I'm afraid a darker color might draw too much attention to the background and not enough to the center where your incredible work is.

JMO!

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hmmm what about a very faint mustard yellow? or orange yellow?

thanks for the compliment <3

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Posted by HelenZ

maybe frame them w/ a burgundy matte around it? I don't think I would color the background, it already has some impact as is! great job!

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thank you!

I can't really frame them b/c they are about 1 1/2' thick...

oy.. i dont know what im going to do.

i have no answer to your question-- i just wanted to say that i love your living room colors -- the tones are fantastic! i love earthy tones--its so warm!!

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Posted by MJDoc12

i have no answer to your question-- i just wanted to say that i love your living room colors -- the tones are fantastic! i love earthy tones--its so warm!!

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I TOOOOOOOOTALLY bit off my uncle's living room.... He found the nutmeg ... Its called burnt nutmeg from behrs (home depot)

in addition, our hallways are dark olive green, our kitchen is forest green and our bathroom WAS mustard yellow but we just changed it.

its a sickness...

I think a grey-ish taupe would be perfect... it would come off as being grey, but the earthy undertones would make it gel with the rest of your place

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Posted by carolinep24

I painted these for my husband to hang above his turntables (which are placed oh so lovely in my living room)



my problem is, I want to paint the background a greyish blue color... it would go with the whole tone of the paintings... HOWEVER...

my living room is painted in all earth tones...
here is the area directly perpendicular from the turntables... Its a nutmeg color:


and here is where the paintings will be hung about an inch apart and centered...The wall is a light mocha color.


So I don't think the whole blue/grey will blend with our walls... Not that it's THAT important, but I like the whole color scheme of our furniture.. our couches are olive green, etc etc... Do you think I can get away with a burgandy or a nutmeg for the background? Or do you think I will lose the effect of the shadows...

here is a close up of the main canvas which is about 18' X 24'... I don't know if you can tell, but I didn't use black, its more of a dark grey...

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Hmm what about using a gray that ahs a touch of green in it? You know about the spectrum of colros of course so what if you mix a color with just a hint of green to the gray so that it compliments the colors in your living space without clashing? My SIL has a great color on her walls that amde me think of it; if you look from one angle looks flat gray. From others looks greenish gray.

I think burgandy would do well too but I think the nutmeg migth clash with what you have from the photo if the colors are accurate-they look like browns. I would say def use a color because otherwise the lines might not show up as well from a distance on the wall especially with the rest of your space being so colorful and poppy.

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Posted by PeteysBride

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Posted by carolinep24

I painted these for my husband to hang above his turntables (which are placed oh so lovely in my living room)



my problem is, I want to paint the background a greyish blue color... it would go with the whole tone of the paintings... HOWEVER...

my living room is painted in all earth tones...
here is the area directly perpendicular from the turntables... Its a nutmeg color:


and here is where the paintings will be hung about an inch apart and centered...The wall is a light mocha color.


So I don't think the whole blue/grey will blend with our walls... Not that it's THAT important, but I like the whole color scheme of our furniture.. our couches are olive green, etc etc... Do you think I can get away with a burgandy or a nutmeg for the background? Or do you think I will lose the effect of the shadows...

here is a close up of the main canvas which is about 18' X 24'... I don't know if you can tell, but I didn't use black, its more of a dark grey...

---

Hmm what about using a gray that ahs a touch of green in it? You know about the spectrum of colros of course so what if you mix a color with just a hint of green to the gray so that it compliments the colors in your living space without clashing? My SIL has a great color on her walls that amde me think of it; if you look from one angle looks flat gray. From others looks greenish gray.

I think burgandy would do well too but I think the nutmeg migth clash with what you have from the photo if the colors are accurate-they look like browns. I would say def use a color because otherwise the lines might not show up as well from a distance on the wall especially with the rest of your space being so colorful and poppy.

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I like the greenish grey idea.
I also like the taupe idea from portjeffbride, but I don't know if that might blend into the wall being so close in color

decisions... decisions...

THANKS GUYS!!!!

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Posted by KandR419

Wow..those are fabulous! You are so talented. I think the blue-ish color may not flow as well with all the other colors going on in the room. What about a very light beige color or light grey?

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I was thinking light grey might be my best bet. but peteysbride had a great suggestion mixing a little color into it.

I'll keep you updated =)))