Measuring Colour
In this colour essay I will explore about artists who used colour well, colour psychology and colour theory. Along with these topics I will also show some of my own compositions and how I used colours to create an effect.
Art and uses of colour
Throughout the history of art human beings have always created art as a way of communicating a message, whether it is emotional, ritual, feelings or just for decoration.
Although paintings and colour theory to an extent can be traced back or referenced to many years before the Impressionist movement, I believe that Impressionism was the real start of tone and colour manipulation in art in around 1860. The Impressionists would change colours and tones to suit their needs and broke away from the existing true to life Pre Raphaelite style of painting.
J.M.W.Turner began Impressionism with changes of colour mainly Red, Yellow, and blue to his own symbolic meanings. He style was to paint the colours then draw and define the scene, this can be seen in The hero of a hundred flights (1800) and this was a very unusual way of painting, especially at the time.
Monet used colours to show what he saw, and the way he saw colours in the world around him. He believed that colour was only what yourself saw and not what everyone else saw.
monet
The Impressionists influenced the Fauves with their use of colour and the Fauves took colour experimentation further using non-naturalistic colour, often applying paint straight onto the canvas without mixing. This technique was used to create vibrant emotional images that did not reflect true visual responses. Vincent Van Gogh influenced the Fauves with his use of colour, to show his inner turmoil that would ultimately be the end of him.
Van Gogh cafe
Modern Art took colour again one step further, especially Futurism with bold uses of colour and imagery. The influence was the technological age at the time and most artists were influenced by the power speed and energy of machines. Cubism and especially Pablo Picasso tried to create alternative realities with paintings and uses of colour. Picasso himself experimented with just using primary colours, with tints and shades to create a painting in compositions; this is shown well in Three Musicians (1921).
Picasso 3 musicians
Since then art has taken colour, the theory and psychology, through many different art styles from Realism, Pop art and geometric art along with many more. Colour now along with art is carefully considered in new media and graphic design, from adverts, films and sweet packets.
Colour Theory
Colour theory and exploration of real world colour effectively began when Issac Newton (1642-1727) became interested in the theories of light and colour. He believed that light and colour blended, for example a white page with black writing on from a distance did not appear coloured but grey, as the white and black blended. Newton using prism analysed the colours shown from them and devised several circular colour charts as a tool for selecting colour. These charts are still unchanged today and are called colour wheels.
From the colour wheel Newton and nowadays art and designers can use this wheel to see what colour schemes to use in design.
These colour schemes are:
The Monochromatic colour scheme, which uses variations of lightness and saturation of just one colour.
The Analogous colour scheme, which uses colours that are adjacent to each other on the wheel. To use this well one colour is used as a dominant colour while the other is used to enrich the scheme.
The Complementary colour scheme, which consists of two colours completely opposite each other on the colour wheel.
The Split Complementary colour scheme, uses a variation of the complementary colour scheme. This uses a colour and to colours to its complementary, the advantage of this is that this creates a high contrast without as much boldness or tension.
The Triadic colour scheme, uses three colours equally spaced out like the points of an equilateral triangle. This scheme offers a strong contrast but can still retain an element of harmony, and richness in colour. This means that the scheme can look more balanced and harmonious.
The Tetradic (Double Comlpementary) colour scheme, uses two pairs of complementary colour schemes to create one. This can be made to look harmonious if one colour is dominant and the others are subdue, otherwise this can look unbalanced.
Thomas Young an English physician (17773-1829) later stated that the eye must contain receptors that capture the colours through different wavelengths of light mainly three colour Red, Yellow and blue. He also stated the brain would interpret these colours and make combinations for the colours that we see. He later changed these three colours to Red, Green and blue and he called this theory the Trichromatic theory. These three colours are now considered primary colours of which all others are a mixture of these three.
Nowadays we analyse and use colour in all media and to do so we can now use RGB, which is made up of Red, Green and blue, to create colours. Also CMYK is another new way of measuring colour. The advantage of this is that before artists and designers could not pin point as accurately the colour they chose, new technology has brought this.
Colour Psychology
Most scientists would say that emotional or subconscious responses to colour have some basis in linguistic association.
Sit is no surprise that paint manufacturers know that the titles of their colours can affect sales at least as much as the pigments.
Others claim that responses to colour are more natural and aren’t affected by social or cultural conditioning. However some colour symbols are recognised all over the world by different religions and the advice that comes with paint from manufacturers often derives from Christian, Jewish, Islamic and many others.
That some colours have collected meaning and have done for quite some time may suggest that humans do have collective meanings for colour. For example Red is associated with the colour of the sun, which gives life, but also with blood and danger to life.
So, colours can be associated psychologically with more than just one meaning and this suggests that people personally see colours in their own way or it could be that colours don’t have to have a collective meaning.
Either way research by John Gage from the University of California suggests that even in the Middle Ages Old French had words that could mean blue or yellow, and also words that meant red or green.
I personally think that these elements can associate to colour, but I strongly believe that colour, and the psychology of it can strongly derive from strong memories and events. So the names that people associate with colours are equally as influential.
Colour Compositions
Comp 1
The blue is:
R = 51 G = 78 B = 227
and the purple/red is:
R = 113 G = 78 B = 110
With this composition I have tried to play on the fact that blue isn't always peaceful and relaxing. By using a complementary colour scheme, and ignoring the psychological side, I tried to create a scary, and eerie image rather than an typical, true to blue image.
Comp 2
The main Greens are: R=66 G=81 B=14, R=84 G=148 B=38 and R=136 G=214 B=168
There are many shades of green in this image and along with the happy pictures of dolphins and weddings there is an image of fireworks in the background. The scheme which is monochromatic creates an overpowering and soothing green. As the fact that the image of the fireworks in the background is unnoticeable, it creates a very soothing image.
Comp 3
The blue is: R=15 G=0 B=215 and the Red is: R=240 G=0 B=13
This composition is influenced by media and its corporate branding and colour. I find this quite interesting as a competitor or rival company will obviously never use the same colour as its rival. However for instance these four companies all opt for the complete opposite colour, on the wheel and this is obviously no coincidence.
This composition s obviously a complementary scheme and I have tried to portray a composition influenced by the media as we are media.
Comp 4
The Red is: R=231 G=9 B=8 and the yellow: R=218 G=214 B=27
This composition is an example of how yellow and red can show love, fear, happiness and warning. The scheme is analogous and Ive tried to show with the images the associations with the colours. The contrast it self does not totally reflect what I aimed for as I do not believe that the fear and warning aspect work so well. This could well be because I haven’t got a strong black to go with the yellow.
What I have learnt through the project
The theme of this project is all about measuring colour and I believe that is what I have learnt. I believe that through the research and compositions I know have a better understanding of how I can use colour in my work and how others have used colours in their work. In all I have learnt more about how to use colour effectively, and that colour is only the way we perceive it and not how everyone else does.
Art and uses of colour
Throughout the history of art human beings have always created art as a way of communicating a message, whether it is emotional, ritual, feelings or just for decoration.
Although paintings and colour theory to an extent can be traced back or referenced to many years before the Impressionist movement, I believe that Impressionism was the real start of tone and colour manipulation in art in around 1860. The Impressionists would change colours and tones to suit their needs and broke away from the existing true to life Pre Raphaelite style of painting.
J.M.W.Turner began Impressionism with changes of colour mainly Red, Yellow, and blue to his own symbolic meanings. He style was to paint the colours then draw and define the scene, this can be seen in The hero of a hundred flights (1800) and this was a very unusual way of painting, especially at the time.
Monet used colours to show what he saw, and the way he saw colours in the world around him. He believed that colour was only what yourself saw and not what everyone else saw.
monet
The Impressionists influenced the Fauves with their use of colour and the Fauves took colour experimentation further using non-naturalistic colour, often applying paint straight onto the canvas without mixing. This technique was used to create vibrant emotional images that did not reflect true visual responses. Vincent Van Gogh influenced the Fauves with his use of colour, to show his inner turmoil that would ultimately be the end of him.
Van Gogh cafe
Modern Art took colour again one step further, especially Futurism with bold uses of colour and imagery. The influence was the technological age at the time and most artists were influenced by the power speed and energy of machines. Cubism and especially Pablo Picasso tried to create alternative realities with paintings and uses of colour. Picasso himself experimented with just using primary colours, with tints and shades to create a painting in compositions; this is shown well in Three Musicians (1921).
Picasso 3 musicians
Since then art has taken colour, the theory and psychology, through many different art styles from Realism, Pop art and geometric art along with many more. Colour now along with art is carefully considered in new media and graphic design, from adverts, films and sweet packets.
Colour Theory
Colour theory and exploration of real world colour effectively began when Issac Newton (1642-1727) became interested in the theories of light and colour. He believed that light and colour blended, for example a white page with black writing on from a distance did not appear coloured but grey, as the white and black blended. Newton using prism analysed the colours shown from them and devised several circular colour charts as a tool for selecting colour. These charts are still unchanged today and are called colour wheels.
From the colour wheel Newton and nowadays art and designers can use this wheel to see what colour schemes to use in design.
These colour schemes are:
The Monochromatic colour scheme, which uses variations of lightness and saturation of just one colour.
The Analogous colour scheme, which uses colours that are adjacent to each other on the wheel. To use this well one colour is used as a dominant colour while the other is used to enrich the scheme.
The Complementary colour scheme, which consists of two colours completely opposite each other on the colour wheel.
The Split Complementary colour scheme, uses a variation of the complementary colour scheme. This uses a colour and to colours to its complementary, the advantage of this is that this creates a high contrast without as much boldness or tension.
The Triadic colour scheme, uses three colours equally spaced out like the points of an equilateral triangle. This scheme offers a strong contrast but can still retain an element of harmony, and richness in colour. This means that the scheme can look more balanced and harmonious.
The Tetradic (Double Comlpementary) colour scheme, uses two pairs of complementary colour schemes to create one. This can be made to look harmonious if one colour is dominant and the others are subdue, otherwise this can look unbalanced.
Thomas Young an English physician (17773-1829) later stated that the eye must contain receptors that capture the colours through different wavelengths of light mainly three colour Red, Yellow and blue. He also stated the brain would interpret these colours and make combinations for the colours that we see. He later changed these three colours to Red, Green and blue and he called this theory the Trichromatic theory. These three colours are now considered primary colours of which all others are a mixture of these three.
Nowadays we analyse and use colour in all media and to do so we can now use RGB, which is made up of Red, Green and blue, to create colours. Also CMYK is another new way of measuring colour. The advantage of this is that before artists and designers could not pin point as accurately the colour they chose, new technology has brought this.
Colour Psychology
Most scientists would say that emotional or subconscious responses to colour have some basis in linguistic association.
Sit is no surprise that paint manufacturers know that the titles of their colours can affect sales at least as much as the pigments.
Others claim that responses to colour are more natural and aren’t affected by social or cultural conditioning. However some colour symbols are recognised all over the world by different religions and the advice that comes with paint from manufacturers often derives from Christian, Jewish, Islamic and many others.
That some colours have collected meaning and have done for quite some time may suggest that humans do have collective meanings for colour. For example Red is associated with the colour of the sun, which gives life, but also with blood and danger to life.
So, colours can be associated psychologically with more than just one meaning and this suggests that people personally see colours in their own way or it could be that colours don’t have to have a collective meaning.
Either way research by John Gage from the University of California suggests that even in the Middle Ages Old French had words that could mean blue or yellow, and also words that meant red or green.
I personally think that these elements can associate to colour, but I strongly believe that colour, and the psychology of it can strongly derive from strong memories and events. So the names that people associate with colours are equally as influential.
Colour Compositions
Comp 1
The blue is:
R = 51 G = 78 B = 227
and the purple/red is:
R = 113 G = 78 B = 110
With this composition I have tried to play on the fact that blue isn't always peaceful and relaxing. By using a complementary colour scheme, and ignoring the psychological side, I tried to create a scary, and eerie image rather than an typical, true to blue image.
Comp 2
The main Greens are: R=66 G=81 B=14, R=84 G=148 B=38 and R=136 G=214 B=168
There are many shades of green in this image and along with the happy pictures of dolphins and weddings there is an image of fireworks in the background. The scheme which is monochromatic creates an overpowering and soothing green. As the fact that the image of the fireworks in the background is unnoticeable, it creates a very soothing image.
Comp 3
The blue is: R=15 G=0 B=215 and the Red is: R=240 G=0 B=13
This composition is influenced by media and its corporate branding and colour. I find this quite interesting as a competitor or rival company will obviously never use the same colour as its rival. However for instance these four companies all opt for the complete opposite colour, on the wheel and this is obviously no coincidence.
This composition s obviously a complementary scheme and I have tried to portray a composition influenced by the media as we are media.
Comp 4
The Red is: R=231 G=9 B=8 and the yellow: R=218 G=214 B=27
This composition is an example of how yellow and red can show love, fear, happiness and warning. The scheme is analogous and Ive tried to show with the images the associations with the colours. The contrast it self does not totally reflect what I aimed for as I do not believe that the fear and warning aspect work so well. This could well be because I haven’t got a strong black to go with the yellow.
What I have learnt through the project
The theme of this project is all about measuring colour and I believe that is what I have learnt. I believe that through the research and compositions I know have a better understanding of how I can use colour in my work and how others have used colours in their work. In all I have learnt more about how to use colour effectively, and that colour is only the way we perceive it and not how everyone else does.
posted by DW at 1:47 PM
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