How do you choose a background colour?

I’ve always found this challenging mostly because I’m afraid of ‘ruining’ a picture I’ve otherwise finished and really like. 
Here I show you how I choose a background for this image from Veronica’s Garden. This is not an easy one to choose, and there is no simple solution. My aim is to give you insight into how to make creative decisions when the answer is not clear. Here I colour “Plant the Seeds of Friendship”.
A sample of the image is available as a FREE PDF download from my website or Google drive so you can colour along at the same time. You can do this tutorial with different colours than me, and play around. But if you want to try the background colours I used for one example, they are listed below. Enjoy!
 

Colours Used in this tutorial are all Faber-Castell Polychromos:

Ivory, Raw Umber, Dark Chrome Yellow, Orange Glaze, Sky Blue, Permanent Green Olive, White
 

Please Share!

I love seeing different peoples interpretation of my illustrations. If you enjoy this video from Veronica’s Garden, please feel free to share your colouring creations on social media. You will find me most frequently on Instagram @sjvickery and Facebook plus in my YouTube Channel so you can colour along with me. If you do share your work, I’d really appreciate you using #veronicasgarden and @sjvickery and #sarahjanevickery
 
Find the FREE PDF download here: