CLASS TWO

The “Deception” Of Color And A Little Detour On Our “Road”

We really can’t get a thorough understanding of color without talking about Joseph Albers and his legacy. His concepts are fundamental to all contemporary artists, and they will also help to explain why we get so DARNED CONFUSED about color! Not only is color temperature relative, color itself is relative to other colors around it. Below are three of Albers’ classic examples of how color is “relative to its surroundings.” His book The Interaction of Color contains his theories on studying and teaching color. More on that in a minute…

RELATIVE COLOR EXAMPLES

1. GREEN and PURPLE EXAMPLES

In the green example the small rectangle on the left appears lighter and paler. The rectangle on the right, darker and a bit more “green.” But they are the SAME COLOR.
In the purple example the left small purple rectangle appears significantly darker than the right small rectangle, however they are the SAME COLOR.

2. TAN SQUARES EXAMPLE

Look at the two small squares and guess what? They are the SAME COLOR! The top one appears much brighter and more ”orange”, while the bottom one appears darker and more neutral. Their appearance changes because of the colors that surround them. 

Literally the color of the square changes in front of our eyes proving that all color is relative to that which surrounds it.

The “bottom line” here is that color can be very deceptive. How we see it depends on very many factors. We have seen that light can affect color and now we see that surrounding colors affect color. The trick is to learn how to use this all to our advantage.

Albers spent a big portion of his life studying these color interactions and teaching his students to see them as well. His book, "The Interaction of Color" was reproduced around the world in different languages with many examples of plates like the ones above. It is actually very easy to read and quite understandable. YOU are actually at the right place and time in this color universe, however, as there is now an iPad App that Albers would have flipped over. The Interaction of Color is now available as an App (created by the Albers foundation) that YOU can play with and discover these color interactions on your own. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you purchase this App to learn more about color relationships. Plus it is just darned FUN! I believe this is only available for the iPad and not a tablet or phone yet, but we can hope that they will develop these platforms in the future.

If you are fascinated by this concept feel free to create these studies on your own in paint. I am not giving this as a Project as it is too tedious for many students, but if you would like to create your own “Albers” Projects, please GO FO IT!!

SUMMARY

Armed with the knowledge of the Relativity of Color you can now begin to understand just why color can be so confusing. Not only is COLOR ALWAYS RELATIVE to the colors that surround it, and its light source, I believe that many of us actually see colors differently (Albers believed this too). With this knowledge, you can now give yourself some creative patience and respect for “learning to see.” And the next time you get confused about color you will have a better understanding of WHY.

Color Proportion In Paintings

Now that I have your head spinning with the Relativity and “Deception” of Color, it's time to take a break from Relativity. Let’s take a small detour on our road and look at a simpler concept that can be applied to any painting subject matter. This is the concept of color proportion. Watch this short slide presentation to learn about “A Gallon, A Quart and a Pint,” or “Mostly, Some, and a Bit.”

Please Note: Each video in this course has its own unique password.

• VIDEO PASSWORD: Mostly

• VIDEO LENGTH: 13 minutes

PROJECT “PROPORTION”

Watch Me Demo The Color Proportion Concept

Create a painting using the concept of “Mostly, Some and a Bit”.

Please Note: Each video in this course has its own unique password.

• VIDEO PASSWORD: Orange

• VIDEO LENGTH: 36 minutes

Here I demonstrate an abstract painting using “Mostly, Some, and a Bit.” I clearly use more than just three colors intentionally. I started by figuring out my “Mostly” as warms and oranges. I wanted MOST of my painting to be very warm “Orangey,” but not just Orange. As I proceeded I then added greens and blues that became my “Some” and a ”Bit.” I didn't have this clearly planned out in the beginning, but I had a general direction.  Mostly warms and then smaller amounts of cools.

Paint colors on my palette are from left to right:  Mars Black, Ultramarine Blue, Viridian, Green Gold, Titanium White, Lemon Yellow, Indian Yellow, Cadmium Orange, Cadmium Red Light, Yellow Ochre, Cold Wax Medium.