Expressive Emotional Color Expressive Emotional Color In other

Expressive, Emotional Color

Expressive, Emotional Color In other words: Psychological Color; color used to appeal to your senses, your psyche; to provoke a psychological reaction or emotion

Main Aspects to look for in an artwork: • Format: the size/scale & materials used to create the work • Subject Matter: the main person or object being represented Example: figure, landscape, line or shape • Relationship between forms & space: figure-ground, dynamic between elements such as color, line, shape, texture, value • Content: the main theme or underlying statement behind an artwork. *Iconography: symbols

Color can function both formally or expressively… Format: Subject: Relationship between forms & space: Content: How does COLOR contribute?

Format: painting on canvas Subject: rectilinear forms Relationship: shifts in value create 3 D space; balance of light/dark creates light direction. Content: neutral, unemotional shapes in space How does COLOR contribute? The shifts in color & value create shapes & space and a sense of light direction. It’s monochromatic, smooth, opaque application lend itself to creating a sense of control and balance emotionally. Format: painting on canvas Subject: portraiture – human head Relationship: disjointed, ambiguous, raw, visceral mark-making, rich textures Content: implies anxiety, disturbed mental state of being How does COLOR contribute? The colors are a wide mixture of warm/cool, light/dark, opaque & transparent. The Manner in which they’re applied is “raw” and haphazard, contributing to it’s appearance of lacking control – provoking a sense of imbalance emotionally.

Harmony vs. Discord: Harmonious colors can create a pleasing effect, while discordant colors create unease in the viewer Jean Michel Basquiat’s painting Untitled from 1981

Francis Bacon

Frances Bacon Self-Portraits

Colors and their associations…

Edvard Munch’s The Sick Child 1896

Van Gogh’s Café Terrace on the Place du Forum, Arles at Night

Paul Gauguin’s Le Christ Jaune Yellow Christ

Frances Bacon’s Study After Velazquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X 1953; Oil on canvas, 60 1/4 x 46 1/2 in

Paul Gauguin Fatata te mipi (delectable waters), 1892 The white horse, 1898

Colors’ meaning can change, depending on the SUBJECT or the CONTEXT… Color can also direct the CONTENT of an artwork… Color has the power to imply multiple meanings & communicate different messages

Common Associations with Key Colors: • Red / Red-Violet = Love, Passion • Black / Grays = Anger, Emptiness • Greens = Calm, Refreshing, Quiet • Blues = Depressing • Yellows / Oranges = Energy, Happiness

Alternative Associations with Key Colors: *Red ALSO signifies violence, blood (pain), anger, warning! *Black ALSO suggests mysterious, power, liberty *Green ALSO linked to jealousy, illness, poison *Blue ALSO associated with cleanliness, freshness *Yellow ALSO implies weakness, cowardly

Matisse’s The Joy of Life

Intro. to Today’s Exercise: • • Take a few snapshots in Photobooth Desaturate & Posterize in Photoshop Colorize in a Cool / Warm palette Note the results: does color change the mood, personality, content of your portrait?