Fundamentals of Visual Arts Color Color Theory In

Fundamentals of Visual Arts: Color

Color Theory • In the visual arts, color theory is a body of practical guidance to color mixing and the visual impacts of specific color combinations.

• Color theory principles in West first appeared in the writings of Leone Battista Alberti (c. 1435) and the notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (c. 1490), (During Renaissance) • But a tradition of "colory theory" began in the 18 th century, initially within a partisan controversy around Isaac Newton's theory of color (Opticks, 1704) and the nature of so-called primary colors

• By 19 th Century various color theories were proposed by scientists and artists • Earlier in traditional arts color was always considered as a filler. The drawing was the main component • With new researches in color theories and the expressive quality of color, it was emancipated (freed) from the clutches of drawing

PRIMARY & SECONDARY RED PURPLE BLUE GREEN YELLOW ORANGE

Some Important Terms • HUE – a particular gradation of color • SHADES AND TINT- by adding black and white resp) • MONOCHROMATIC- one color • WARM AND COOL COLORS • COMPLEMENTARY COLORS • SATURATION – brilliance or depth of color

Primary, secondary, and tertiary colors of the RYB color model

• Complementary colors are pairs of colors that are of “opposite” hue in some color model • Analogous colors are neighbours on color wheel

Complementary and Analogous Colors

Complementary colors Analagous colors Barnett Newman, Dionysius, 1944, 67 x 49 in.

Van Gogh, Sunflowers, 1888

Analagous colors Matisse, Seated Riffian, 1912 -13 Complementary colors

Some examples and techniques from traditional Western Art • • FRESCOSFUMATO CHAIROSCURO IMPASTO (modern)

• Fresco (plural either frescos or frescoes) is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings • Michaelangelo Sistine Chapel 15 th CE

Sfumato • Monalisa by Leonardo da Vinci • 15 th CE • Leonardo da Vinci described sfumato as "without lines or borders, in the manner of smoke or beyond the focus plane. "

Chiaroscuro • Chiaroscuro is characterized by strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition • Sacred and Profane Love. 1602– 1603, showing dramatic compositional chiaroscuro by • Giovanni Baglione

Impasto • In English, the borrowed Italian word impasto most commonly refers to a technique used in painting, where paint is laid on an area (or the entire canvas) in a very thick manner using a brush, palette knife or directly the paint tube • . Paint can also be mixed right on the canvas. When dry, impasto provides rich texture

"Crags and Crevices"(1961): Jane Frank

Vlaminck: Fauve Painter 1903

Modern Art Movements which gave tremendous importance to color • Impressionism- Optical mixing • Post Impressionism- Emotional and expressive quality of color explored • Fauvism- Wild application of color • Color Field Abstraction

Monet, Impression: Sunrise, 1872

Post Impressionism • Paul Gauguin • The yellow Christ • Symbolic use of color

Vision after the sermon Paul Gauguin

Fauvism • Henri Matisse • Early 20 th CE • Exploring the express ive quality of color

Color Field Abstract Expressionism

Monochromatic - using only one color

Mark Tansey, The Bricoleur’s Daughter, 1987

Michaelan gelo Sistine Chapel detail (monochro matic medallion)