Prompt #7: Opal

One of the simplest ways to vary a graphic is by lightening it; and Microsoft Picture Manager offers two ways of doing so: evenly overall (which will turn blacks into greys); and midtone only (which graduates the degree of lightening so that dark colours are only slightly affected compared to midtones). Here, for example, is a set created on 7 January 2021:



Having done this, though, I then tried something different—applying Contrast to the original graphic:





As you can see, the pattern immediately sharpens. It is not only that the pale shades whiten and colours brighten; but the edges of the pattern, previously gently blending from one hue to the next, become exceedingly crisp. There is, in other words, a striking alteration in the texture of the graphic.

Not surprisingly, when I ran it through the colour-wheel-rotating doohickey at GRSites.com, I liked some combinations of shades more than others. Tweaking created new variations; and the same technique was applied to other graphics to produce a range of pastel bicolours. Here are some examples:



Now one thing you can do with graphics like these is try increasing the saturation, perhaps also darkening the midtones somewhat and applying a slight colour tweak. Here are a couple of results:





However, it was only a few days later that it occurred to me to see what might happen if I tried darkening these pastel variants with an overall dimming:



Of course, I promptly took the result off to GRSites.com and ran it round the colour wheel:



The result maintains the crisp separation of colours, particularly the visibly lighter outlines. Because of this, I think of these as my "cloisonnée" collection.

On the whole, the darker and/or more saturated ones look the best; so, after that, I did quite a bit of tweaking—often with a touch of coloured filter, as well. Here's an example of what can be produced. I started with this blue & pink variant:





Then I applied a yellow filter:



Yes, this is the method that produced a number of the "Christmas graphics" seen in the Bloodstone post!

On the other hand, when I started by applying a blue filter, I got variants like these:







And further tweaking, including the use of a yellow filter at this stage, produced these:







With greater or lesser degrees of tweaking, the same technique also produced all of these variants, too:








Previous Days:
Prompts #1 and #2 (Amber and Topaz)
Prompt #2 (Rose Quartz)
Prompt #3 (Garnet)
Prompts #3 and #4 (Moonstone and Hematite)
Prompt #4 (Kyanite)
Prompt #5 (Peridot)
Prompt #5 (Bloodstone)
Prompt #6 (Aquamarine)
Prompt #6 (Amethyst)
Prompt #7 (Sunshine Jasper)
Bonus #1 (Turquoise)
Bonus #2 (Smoky Quartz and Onyx)
Bonus #3 (Rubellite)
Prompt #7 (Opal) - Part One
Prompt #7 (Opal) - Part Two
Prompt #7 (Opal) - Part Two-and-a-half
Prompt #7 (Opal) - Part Three
Prompt #7 (Opal) - Part Four