Thinking about colour!

I have started to think about how the background colour of my postcards will effect the mood and dynamic of the postcards. I want my 4 postcards to link in terms of the colours used, this might be a challenge using the link as a sky but i need to find a natural colour that will work on each city.

• I considered a darker tone as I'm looking at miami at night when the lights illuminate the sky!

However, i think this really takes away from the delicate pastel colours that i have used for the buidlings and palm trees and which miami is iconic for. I need to experiment with more subtle tones still giving the impression of night time or evening.

• The idea of using a sunset style colour in order to give the impression of the bright colours however this definitely doesn't work and it really takes away from the colours of the buildings and palm trees.

• the teal tone, although suggests the sea and a subtle change into the darker night, however i don't think it accurately represents the colours of miami and also CLEARLY takes away from the colours of buildings and trees which i have worked hard to represent in a way that shows the city

• the yellow, although more effective than other experiments, i still feel that it really doesnt compliment the subtle colours that i have used for the rest of the design....IM STRUGGLING TO FIND A COLOUR THAT WORKS.
• I know that i have slowly started to learn about using colours selectively but i feel like with this project i can use more colours in order to represent the city..although, i still need to be selective and consider how each colour will effect each other, they need to work in harmony and at the moment, this isn't working.
• maybe i need to try and combination of colours, this might work better than just one flat colour? It might balance the palette out and will also add a sense of depth to the image.

I have tried using similar tones in which i have previously experimented with in the form of a flat colour. Although I'm not happy with these as backgrounds, i definitely feel like this slow graduation but still using shapes is a better option, i will experiment with this further. 

i have tried making the colours a lot more subtle, I'm happy with this as a concept as it is beginning to all work together with a more pastel colour palette. Im learning so much in this project and really starting to consider the importance of matching colours and looking at how they can work coherently and effectively when used in the correct way.

i experimented with a VERY subtle background, the grey and blueish tones are very forgiving in terms of showing the colours with building and palm trees in the foreground. Although i'm happy with this and how it clearly shows the colours i definitely feel like i could put more work into how the colours can represent miami.

I'll wait for after my crit and see what feedback i have then might consider changing the background if i feel like i can't work it in with the other postcards. 

This has been a very difficult decision for me so far but I'm really feeling like the more i experiment and look at how i can use colours and work them in together, the more I'm starting to get excited about learning more about tones and shades. what a learning curve!!!