Pantone Colors of Fall 2020
Pantone LLC, the company that creates the fashion standards for color and produces its famous “Color of the Year” annually, also publishes lesser-known seasonal color trend predictions. Last year, I used Pantone’s predicted autumn and winter NY fashion week trending colors to draw a realistic fall leaf. This year, I wanted to do the same thing again with the new predicted seasonal colors and gauge the difficulty with new, more flamboyant shades. Last year’s colors were abnormal in that they featured more earthy and natural tones than usual, which made it significantly easier to draw realistic fall leaves. This time, I had to contend with not only fewer colors, but also brighter and lighter ones.
I also decided to challenge myself more this time and use every single color I had in at least one place. Although not obvious at first, but if you look closely at the timelapse of my drawing process you can see just how many different colors go into making those very natural-looking shades of orange, red, and brown. The blues (Class Blue and Blue Depths) were helpful in cooling down the bright oranges and reds to create gray tones and darker black spots where the leaves would have torn and rotted slightly around the edges. I was also able to mix the tennis-ball-yellow I had this year (Green Sheen) with Ultramarine Green to make lighter green areas that give the leaves the partially reddened look they have in the reference photos.
The fact that this year’s colors are brighter overall and are described as “colorful favorites” and “fresh color classics” as opposed to the “visceral hues” of last year might have something to do with the need for positivity and optimism in the world after a long few months of quarantine, the pandemic, and various other painful events that have made 2020 a completely terrible year. Pantone might be hoping to evoke positive feelings of change and revitalization. The lighter, more airy colors may be an attempt to emulate the breath of fresh air that so many people need at the end of this year. If this is the case, I find it ironic that my leaves this year turned out somewhat duller than the one from last year, barring any obvious changes in my art style over the past year.
