Plymouth Design: Background Colors

I had been working with the idea that the background color should be a simple solid gold, so that the butterflies would take center stage. But these two paintings will be 30 feet long by 55 inches wide, and a solid color over such a large area seems a waste of a large opportunity for excitement (or conversely a great opportunity for boredom!)

I chose a color pallet of gold, yellow-green, blue, purple and brick red and made some quick tests on scarf blanks. I can get a spring green, summer leaf green, olive green and dark values from this pallet. The outcome is that the main anchor color will be green rather than gold, with some areas of jewel-like colors but most colors will be mixed with gold which will dampen down the intensity of the color.
The challenge will be to keep the background quiet enough to enhance the design, rather than take attention away. One key will be to change colors on a very large scale, every 3-10 feet.