composing with color
DESCRIPTION
Composing With Color. Dana Schutz , Bad Instincts. Color schemes: specific arrangements of colors, based on their placement on the color wheel Triadic, monochromatic, etc are color schemes. Color schemes depend on a LIMITED PALETTE—not all colors will be used-- to ensure harmony. Sol Lewitt. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Composing With Color
Dana Schutz, Bad Instincts
Color schemes: specific arrangements of colors, based on their placement on the
color wheel
Triadic, monochromatic, etc are color schemes.
Color schemes depend on a LIMITED PALETTE—not all colors will be used-- to
ensure harmony
Sol Lewitt
OPEN PALETTE: is when any colors from the color wheel are used—there is no limitOpen-palette compositions will be more pleasing if saturation and value are taken into consideration.
AKA, “ Color Keys”
None of these colors are at full-saturation. Each is a shade of a hue.
These are all: DARK-KEYED colors. Desaturated colors on the low (dark) end of the value scale.
Deeper, heavier Colors
HIGH-KEYED Colors: Colors at their full-saturationLow-Keyed Colors: Tints, desaturated colors mixed with white
Brighter, more intense colors Lighter, subtler “quieter” colors
Spatial effects of colorsBrighter, more saturated (high keyed)
colors will seem to pull closer to the viewer than duller colors.
Colors that are lighter at pure saturation seem (yellows) will seem to take up more space than darker saturated colors (blues)
Full saturation colors will seem closer than dark keyed colors (shades)
Larger areas of brighter colors appear closer
Smaller shapes appear farther
Peter Halley
How is he creating an illusion of deep space?
Hans Hoffmann
Repeating colors in this Mark Grotjahn image define the distance between the yellow marks.
Luminosity: The appearance of Light in an image
Lighter colors placed within darker colors will create an illusion of luminosity, as will warm colors contrasted with cool colors.
Tobey Archer
LIGHT HEAVY
Achromatic Colors
Light ValueColors
Medium Cool Colors
Low SaturationLight Colors
Inherently Light Hues
High SaturationColors
Dark ValueColors
High SaturationWarm Colors
High SaturationDark Colors
InherentlyDark Hues
Color weight: color’s tendency to seem to rise or fall in a composition (depending on it’s relationships)
Traditional Color Contrasts, thought to balance a composition
Light/DarkContrast
Cool/WarmContrast
Hue Contrast
ComplementaryContrast
Light/Dark Contrast
JWM Turner, Storm at Sea
Graham Nickson
Warm/Cool Contrast
Hue Contrast
Stuart Davis
Complementary Contrast
PRINCIPLE OF FAMILIARITY
Mary Heilmann, Hermosa Beach
Familiarity is pleasing and readily accepted. Color schemes based on nature will seem pleasing to most people, because we are used to them.
Light and dark variations of the same color will harmonize.
Nature as inspiration and color swatches from the photo.
Principle of Resemblance
Salvador Dali
Colors harmonize better when the differences between them are less.
Principle of Novelty
While we crave harmony and balance, too much becomes boring. A new or unexpected color will draw attention to itself and enliven the piece.
Mostly analogous blues and greens, the orange creates a ‘pop’.
Principle of Order
• Having an orderly plan to determine color choices, like a specific color scheme
Triadic, secondary color scheme
Avoidance of Ambiguity
Don’t use colors that seem incongruous with the rest of your scheme—a gray amongst vivid colors may draw attention away from the rest of the composition and ruin the flow.
An off-hue color may be distracting because the viewer won’t know if it is intentional. There are three reds in this photo, and they don’t quite work together. Are they meant to match?
Compositional Tools to create harmony
Harmony: compositional oneness, cohesion the following create harmony:
• Repetition: The use of the same visual element (in this case, colors) to create unity
• Continuity: degree of flow between parts of a composition
• Focal points: Parts of the composition that command the viewer’s attention and allow them to look closer
Ben Vautier, Store Repetition
Dana Schutz
As these colors blend into one another (white to yellow, blue to grey to yellow) they create continuity, allowing the viewer’s eye to travel from one section and one element to another
Continuity
Kaye Donachie
Emphasis will depend on a contrast of value, color, or saturation, causing one color-area to stand out.
Focal Point: Contrast of complements
Van Gogh
Focal Point
Juan Miro, Portrait of a Man
Focal Points
Victor Moscos
What is going on in this image? Repetition? Unity? Focal points? Continuity?
Balance
• The equal distribution of weight or force among elements of a composition
• Symmetry: mirror imaging across an axis• Asymmetrical balance: uneven yet balanced
components to a composition (think of balance like a scale—it needn’t be
identical to be balanced—one ten lb. brick weights the same as ten one lb. bricks)
George Harriman ,Krazy Kat Comic
How is the palette limited (what is the color scheme)?
How does the artist use color to lead our eye through the composition?
What does he do to create balance?
Wassily Kandinsky
How is this painting balanced through color?
Peter Doig, Pink Snow
Most of the painting is depicted in warm brown/orange hues. The white scumbled over the top further unifies this piece. The dark ice creates contrast to the white falling snow, and the bright light reflected in the ice creates further contrast and interest.
Achromatic Color scheme: no color, all neutrals (black, brown, grey)
Samuel Morse, Gallery of the Lourve
Mary Heilmann
Monochromatic
Frances Barth
Mary Heilmann, Shocking
Analogous, green, blue-green, blue
Faul Cezanne, Still life with apples Complementary Color scheme
Jacob Lawrence, The Family
Triadic
Dana Schutz
Double-complementary
Red-green, purple-yellow
Bruno Paul
This book jacket is not based on any color scheme. However, it ‘works’. The green and red are similar values, as are the pink and yellow. The black stands out in contrast.