Interesting how people see things differently. To me, the dark colors give it a little bit of a spooky feel. As far as the gradient goes, It was the same one that I used on most of my other uploads. There are lots of ways to manipulate colors and I just try different things until I end up with something I like. Very hit and miss and sometimes I never do end up with anything good and start the whole thing over from scratch.
I guess what I am saying is that I am no artist. Anybody can do what I do. I use the gradient tool to slap down some color in a random fashion, then some dupicating and flipping of layers to get symmetry (I am a big fan of symmetry), and then I start manipulating the colors and hope something good happens. None of this takes any artistic skill and anybody can do it.
Joanie