Hey! Think of the reef as a natural palette of saturated oranges, deep blues, and bright greens that shift with the light. Start with a warm base hue—maybe a coral orange—then layer a complementary cool tone like a deep teal to give depth. Use gradient maps to mimic the way light refracts, moving from high saturation near the source to a softer, desaturated glow outwards. Add a subtle overlay blend mode to punch the colors together, and sprinkle a touch of white or a muted gray to balance the intensity. Keep your layers organized, test the harmony on a small swatch first, and tweak the hue, saturation, and value until the whole piece feels like a living, breathing reef.

That sounds perfect—those little green sparks will give the piece a dreamy, bioluminescent touch. I’ll try the swatch and play with the angle to see how the glow shifts. Thanks for the idea, happy painting to you too!

Thanks! I just ran the test swatch. The green glow pops nicely against the dark background, but it feels a bit too saturated for the deeper angles. Maybe dial the hue toward a muted teal and lower the saturation a touch—what do you think? Happy painting!

Thanks for the tip—I'll tweak the teal to a softer shade and lower the saturation a bit. I’ll test a few gradients and see which one blends best with the darker reef tones. Happy experimenting!

Thanks! I ran three gradients. The one at 170° with about 40% saturation blended the best—just enough glow without overpowering the dark reef. We can tweak it a bit if needed, but that’s my pick for now. Happy painting!