Color Theories from an Artistic Perspective

 

I have found the colors in many of paintings so strong and beautiful that I have been amazed. The Resurrection and Transfiguration of Jesus that was painted by Grunewald is an inspiring example of the use of color. The intensity of the hues involved in this picture, make me want to look at it forever. I also enjoyed the blending of colors used to show the illumination of the sun and the darkness of the shadows. The depth implied by the strength of the colors in this book makes it awe inspiring and realistic.

Color impression is a theory that I have found interesting. This theory "properly begins with color effects in nature" (Itten, 1961, p.124). I find this study a reoccurring theme that interests me. I also enjoy the fact that color impression is not based on reproducing nature, but analyzing and exploring how different colors affect each other. I realize now that I am not just interested in creating beautiful works of art, but I am intrigued by understanding why things are so beautiful and what makes them this way. I have realized that I am curious about not only beauty or art, but how it is created and the ideas behind it. I feel that color impression and cubism are both very different, but they are similar because they both analyze the idea of art. These ideas are very inspiring to me, and I believe they give me a new perspective as an artist.

Another aspect of color theory I find intriguing is the ideas on complementary color represented in shadow. Johannas Itten mentions a study done where different color light bulbs were shown on a white plaster bust. I was interested to find that "in daylight each colored light produced a shadow of the complementary color" (Itten, 1961). This was something I have never noticed before, and I would like to try this experiment myself.

Another concept that piqued my interested was an idea on color mixing. This idea is adding a slight bit of one complementary color to the other and adding white and black to create an exciting tint. I found this fun to try while I was making colored paper. I like the way it contrasted and accentuated the original colors.

Color is a huge part of art, and there have been many theories and studies based on color. I amazed and enamored by the use of color in art, and I believe it is important for all artists to understand different theories on color in order to become a great artist

References:
Itten, J. (1961). The Art of color; The subjective experience and objective rationale of color. New York, NY: Reinhold Publishing Corporation.