Design Basics Color resource material: Design Basics by David A. Lauer and Stephen Pentak (pages 224 through 254 ) Launching the Imagination:Two Dimensional Design by Mary Stewart (2-0 through 2-19) Color Color theory is a science as well as an art. It was mathematician Sir Isaac Newton who developed the first scientific experiments relating color and light when he put white light through a prism. The prism broke up white light into the familiar rainbow of hues. Color from light combines and forms new visual sensations based on what is called the additive system. Light in itself creates additive color. Video artists, theatrical set designers, and Website artists primarily work with additive color. Red, green, and blue are the primary colors in this system. When these colors are combined as beams of light, white light results. Subtractive color is created when light is reflected off a surface. Pigment colors are created through such reflected light. As with the actual red apple, a painted red apple appears when the red wavelengths of light are reflected while the other colors are absorbed. The subtractive primaries are cyan blue, magenta red, and yellow. When mixed, they produce a type of black. Painters, printmakers, and illustrators use subtractive color in various forms, including acrylics, pastels, and inks. The hue of a color is determined by its wavelength. Physicists, painters, and philosophers have devised numberous systems to organize hues. Johannes Itten's 12-step color wheel and the Albert Munsell color system are the familiar examples. The Itten model has the advantage of simplicity and clarity. Red, blue, and yellow primary colors are in the center. These colors can be mixed to produce virtually all other colors. The secondary colors of green, orange, and violet follow. A circular spectrum of tertiary colors completes the wheel. Artists use a wide range of hues to capture the richness of reality. In Wheel of fortune, Audrey Flack used a full spectrum of hues to define various objects in relentless detail. Audrey Flack, Wheel of Fortune, 1977-78. Oil over acrylic on canvas, 8 X 8 ft. A limited number of hues can be equally effictive. By limiting his palette, Robert Lazuka created an image with hypnotic power. Value In color theory, value refers to the relative lightness or darkness of a color. By removing hue from the equation, we can create a simple value scale that shifts from white to black through a series of grays. When white is added to a hue, the resulting tint will be lighter in value. The addition of black produces a darker shade. The addition of both white and black creates a tone. As with hue, a narrow range of values can be as effective as a wide range. Nicora Gangi's light and dark values transform simple still lifes into theatrical drama. The limited range of values in David Hockney's Mist is equally effective. The gray-green palm trees dissolve into the peach-colored fog a quietly as a whisper. David Hockney, Mist, 1973. From The Weather Series. Lithograph, 37 X 32 in. Color is a dominant force in some paintings, while value is the dominant force in others. Henri Matisse's Green Stripe is defined by color, whereas value defines Romaine Brook's Self-Portrait. Henri Matisse, Green Stripe (Madame Matisse), 1905. Oil on canvas, 16 X 12 3/4 in. Romaine Brooks, Self-Portrait, 1923. Oil on canvas. 46 1/2 X 26 7/8 in. Intensity Intensity, saturation, and chroma are all words used to describe the purity of a color. High intensity colors are often used to maximize impact. Grace Hartigan's Billboard explodes with energy, as the rich blues, reds, and yellows dance across the canvas. Using too many intense colors, however, can reduce rather than increase inpact. Arshile Gorky used a combination of brilliant primary colors and low-intensity earth tones to create a magical image. Temperature Temperature refers to the heat a color generates, both physically and psychologically. Color temperature plays a critical role in creating the illusion of space. By combining warm and cool colors, we can cause various areas in an image to expand or contract. This effect, described by Hans Hofmann as "push/pull" can play an even more important role in nonobjective image relying so heavily on basic visual forces for their impact. In Hofmann's Magnum Opus, this push/pull effect is heightened by variations in definition, from the loosely painted reds to the sharply defined yellow rectangle. Color Systems Variations in hue, value intensity, and temperature can result in millions of colors. Because relationships among colors are so critical to the success or failure of a design, many theories of color harmony have been developed to help artists, architects, and designers make good choices. Monochromatic Variations on a single hue are used in a monochromatic system. A range of values is often used to help increase the illusion of space. The advantage of this system is a high level of unity: all the colors are strongly related. Boredom, due to lack of variety, is a potential disadvantage. In Tracer-Side Order, Guy Goodwin used a variety of textures, patterns, and words to add interest to a fairly monochromatic painting. Guy Goodwin Tracers-Side Order, 1999 Resin, polyurethane, ink on polycarbonate, 51 X 54 X 4 in. Analogous Adjacent colors in the spectrum are used in an analogous color scheme. As with monochromatic harmony, a high degree of unity is ensured, but the wider range of hues offers greater variety and interest. In Houses in Provence, Paul Cezanne used analogous colors to create a highly unified landscape. Complementary The palette expands in a complementary system. Complementary colors are opposites. In Henri Toulouse-Lautrec's A Corner of the Moulin de la Galette, the adjacent reds and greens are highly animated, while the browns they created when mixed add coloristic unity. Split Complementary An even wider range of possibilities is offered by the split complementary system. Rather than pair colors that are in opposite positions on the color wheel, the artist completes the scheme using the two colors on either side of one of the complements. Georgia O'Keeffe's Jack in the Pulpit No.V is dominated by rich green and violets, with accents of yellow at the top of and a line of scarlet down the center of the composition. Triadic The triadic system pushes the choices even farther apart so they are now located in a triangular position, equally spaced around the wheel. This scheme is often used when variety and a strong impact are essential. Chromatic Grays and Earth Colors A chromatic gray is made from a mixture of color, rather than a simple blend of black and white. The result is both subtle and vibrant. In The Magpie, the grays vary widely, from the purples and blue-grays in the shadows to the golden-gray light in the foreground and the silvery grays for the snow-covered trees. This is not a dark, sullen winter day; through the use of chromatic grays, Claude Monet makes the warm light an transparent shadows sparkle in the crisp air. Earth colors, including raw sienna and burnt sienna, raw and burnt umber and yellow ochre, are made literally from pigments found in the soil. Generally warm in temperature, when used together they create a type of analogous harmony. Browns, oranges, and tans accentuate the gestural energy in Catherine Arnold's portrait. Color Combinations Disharmony Selecting harmonious colors can make the difference between a visual atrocity and a visual delight. As a result, color harmony is the subject of endless books offering advice to artists, architects, and surface pattern designers. Cultural definitions of harmony are as changeable as popular music. In search for fresh and eye- catching images, designers in all fields invent new color combinations each year. The pink, gray, and black prized by ddesigners in one year may seem passe in the next year. Furthermore, when the subject matter in a painting is disturbing, conventional harmony is inappropriate. In Triiptych, Francis Bacon used an unusual combination of pinks, grays, blues, and black to produce a painting that is disturbing as it is beautiful. Weight and Balance The effect of color on visual weight and balance is equally dramatic. In Icarus, by Henri Matisse, the black shape of the body "falls" into the surrounding blue sea, while the scarlet heart continues to pull the figure upward, away from death. Through an asture use of color, Matisse eloquently retells the Greek myth of the boy who flew too close to the sun, melting his wax wings and plunging into the ocean. Color Keys A color key, or dominant color, can heighten psychological as well as composition impact. In Egon Schiele's Portrait of Paris von Gutersloh, the flaming orange around and within the figure places the anxious man in an emotional electric chair. Color and Communication Emotional Effects Colors are never emotionally neutral. The color in Sandy Skoglund's Radioactive Cats creates yet another interpretation of an interior space. The gray humans seem lifeless, while the lime-green cats glow with an inquisitive energy that may be toxic! Sandy Skoglund, Radioactive Cats, 1980 Cibachrome print, 30 X 40 in. Sandy Skoglund, Revenge