Just before I start the painting it's important to agree on what colours we will use in the typeface and the background. To do this the designer has used an earlier illustration of Hugo (from the first book) as a way to try colours out with the correct tonal range found on Hugo's body.  We think this green looks quite good with Hugo's browns but as you'll see, the tone of green changed in the final version. The splashes also went and an umbrella was added as a colourful prop.