What influences colour and what does colour influence?

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1 1 What influences colour and what does colour influence? COLOUR has associations of feelings eg.red: Anger, Passion, power, love etc Green: Freshness, re-birth, life, growth Blue: Tranquility, sadness, serenity, truth, loyalty, wisdom Yellow: Sunshine, happiness, energy etc Violet: royalty, luxury, romance Black: elegance, death, mystery Tango is beautiful in any colour but the passion of red is obvious and powerful Using a colour wheel as a habit gives the artist the ability to plan colour relationships knowingly.(to enhance a mood or make a statement). Even if the effect is subliminal on your viewers, it is a skill that can make a nice image into a great art work. A colour can be assessed by it s Hue, Value, Intensity (Saturation, Chroma), Temperature - learn these terms (Hopefully you have already learned them in the terminology booklet.) Why did Picasso choose Blue in his famous Blue period?

2 2 THESE 3 THINGS AFFECT COLOUR GREATLY LIGHT- when light fades so does intensity (time of day, climate, position of viewer). At dusk or sunset, there may be brightness near the sun but all other colours will appear very relatively neutral. DISTANCE- Colours nearest appear brighter and warmer. Objects further away appear cooler. To push or recede an object, you can lighten, cool it AND/OR neutralize it and decrease its value contrast. Learning to do this in the practical painting modules will give you a lot of confidence when planning your own colour compositions. SURROUNDING COLOURS COLOUR IS RELATIVE (Optically, a colour will cast it s complimentary eg. A stroke of what appears to be a neutral grey on your palette, then painted onto a stretch of cool blue will appear warmer, as the blue casts it s compliment (orange) onto the stroke of paint. Artists use complimentary combinations to add drama (blue makes orange appear more orangissimo!!) The best way to feel this is by painting varying background colours, mix the one rich grey colour and see how different it looks on each colour background.

3 3 SOME COLOUR SCHEMES TO UNDERSTAND AND PRACTICE MONOCHROMATIC One colour in various values (often appears moody) TRIAD- three hues related by an equilateral triangle TETRAD- a square relationship (2 colours between on each side) DOUBLE SPIT COMPLIMENTARY- Two on either side of each complimentary SPLIT COMPLIMENTARY One colour + the two on each side of it s compliment COMPLIMENTARY Opposites on the wheel ANALOGOUS : 3-4 harmonious or adjacent colours ANALOGOUS + COMPLIMENT NB: Tints and all shades of neutrals are also all valid for inclusion in these schemes, it is the relationship of the hues that count.

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7 7 GENERAL NOTES FOR PAINTERS - Bring variety to any large areas of solid colour (vary the temperature of the local colour, the texture and/or the tone). A large area can be restful without being boring. - Save the most intense colour for the FOCAL POINT. If you really want it to dominate, don t repeat it s colour anywhere at full intensity. - Think some, a little, a lot (whether you are planning tones, colours, or temperatures) this is another way of knowingly avoiding repetition of equal or competitive intervals. Eg. Some medium tones, a little dark and a lot of light OR some neutral areas, a little cool and a lot of warm. If you accidentally end up with equal areas of these features, none will dominate and your composition will be less successful - Thumbnail and notan sketches are worth it before every painting so your composition is well planned (just block in lines, shapes, tones, not detail) - Start blocking in the tonal pattern first (try not to lose sight of it throughout) - Build entire compositions concurrently in stages where possible (rather than building up total detail in one area and then moving onto another etc. This way you can maintain balance as you go along. - Try harmonizing a work by underpainting in the opposite temperature - Don t ever apply paint to just use it up (don t laugh, I ve seen it!!) - Stand back regularly and squint to assess the tonal cohesion and flow of your composition, this will give you a whole other pespective - Turn it around if you think it is finished and come back later with new eyes

8 8 - Always refer regularly to your notes until compositional planning becomes second nature - Simplify where elaboration isn t necessary - Find a subtle way to add some warm to a very cool image - Use a mirror for a whole new view from time to time - Revisit newly learnt information early to embed it. Give yourself challenges to try out new techniques and combinations, subjects. - Try to not just paint things but instead your response to them - If you start to feel like abstracting or distorting features or concepts, try to be consistent in your modes of abstraction(an remember that the same guidelines of composition and colour apply to al genres. - Remember that artistic growth doesn t stop until we put our brush down for the last time. You can never know it all but it is worth endeavouring constantly. ( I am still learning. Michelangelo) - Endeavour to seek and evaluate feedback regularly from those whose opinion you respect. Without blowing it out of proportion, give it due consideration. (Creative people are always sensitive to criticism), try to find the balance between ignoring it politely because everyone has their opinion and/or giving it serious consideration because the person who is offering their opinion may have some helpful knowledge or insight. All children are artists the problem is how to stay an artist once we are an grown up Pablo Picasso