gradient maps help

[halcyon patrol]

hii, does anyone have any advice on how to use gradient maps ? ive been trying to transition my piece from grayscale to color but the color always comes out weird 😭

also feedback on anything else is welcome!

[haughty axle]

make a color mask, color needs to match the local value it's going to be on

this gets you halfway there, you'll still have dull colors

with another layer experiment with darken, overlay, soft light, lighten, and multiply to dial in warmth/cool colors