The color corona around the sun spills over and influences both the colors of the sky and the silhouette colors. The color mixtures are actually fairly low-chroma (not very saturated), but you can get a feeling of great brilliancy this way. This is very easy to do in digital, but it takes a bit of deliberate planning in paint.
A silhouette treatment is good to use in a sequential work like an illustrated book, comic book, or animated film, especially if you want to give the viewer a break from looking at a lot of detail.
Good rule of thumb: the most brilliant impressions of light are achieved in paintings when looking toward, not away from the light source.
----
Previously: Color Corona
Color and Light, page 166-167.
Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara
