Zemni Art+ Illustration

Category: Narratives of Place

  • Visual depth

    Find places that can exaggerate different viewpoints. Focus on how you visualise depth and what strategies you use. Produce three drawings depicting a room in your house using:

    • one-point
    • two-point
    • three-point perspective
    • isometric projection
    • the room’s own visual logic and deliberately breaking the rules 
    • a flat drawing.

    By definition these last three drawings will be less observed and more imagined, but try and use the room and objects as in your perspective drawings. You don’t need to produce finished illustrations for these pieces, though you can if you want to.

    Analysis

    Write around 200 words analysing how these different approaches affect the ‘meaning’ of the visual space being represented. When you choose to draw with or without perspective what is this saying?

    I chose to do these drawings in my living room, looking through to the hall and dining room depending on the type of perspective.

    Linear perspective appears to be ‘photographically accurate’ – it is what we are used to considering as ‘correct’ and ‘real’. However there is no one ‘true’ perspective for any scene. Different photographic lenses give very different effects. There are many variations on any one scene in the way that linear perspectives can be constructed. In practice in most views there are multiple vanishing points because many things in a scene are not parallel to each other.

    Images based on, or dominated by, one point perspective with a single vanishing point gives a feeling of direction towards that vanishing point. But it is possible to experiment with:

    • eye or horizon line: can be placed in different relationship to the ground plane to give the view of a child (low eye-level), or an adult and taller person (high eye level). It is also possible to have very high (bird’s eye) or very low viewpoints in relation to the vanishing point for very dramatic effects.
    • position of the vanishing point along the horizon line and in relation to the image border: central or off central, hidden etc
    • angle of view: steeper angles give a closer wide angle feel, narrower angles give a telephoto feel.
    • realism means that beyond the 60 degree cone of view the image would be slightly curved and less sharp
    • area of focus or sharpness in the image can be towards the front ie we see things closer to us more sharply, or sharpness may be greater in a particular focal point of interest – like focusing a camera which is the way we scan scenes with our eye. The difference in sharpness may also vary from sharpness throughout the image to extreme variations between one or more points.
    • differences in interest and focus can be changed by tonal and/or colour contrasts.
    • tension can be created, feelings of emptiness or chaos can be created by altering the relationship between these different elements.

    Two point perspective with two vanishing points along the eyel line gives a sense of indecision – which way to look? Again the eye line, angles and position of the mid line can be altered to create different effects.

    Three point perspective (not to be confused with one point perspective looking up or down) has all horizontals and verticals converging towards different vanishing points. This exaggerates the feeling of height or depth. It can also be used to create a profound sense of disorientation when the angles towards one or more of the vanishing points are very exaggerated and distort objects.

    Isometric perspective is used by designers because parallel relationships and measurements are preserved. This gives a more technical or expansive feel – as in the Chinese long scrolls of townscapes.

    But none of these are actually the way we see things. Our eyes change focus, make more distant things seem near and make connections that are then stored as memories in the brain. Drawing without perspective can explore these connections and meanings. This can be done from memory, mixing images in photomontage or from imagination. These images can be apparently ‘realistic’ at first view and then become surreal on further examination. Or their improbability can be immediately apparent through design.

    In all these cases drawings can be be along a continuum from photorealism to abstraction. Some of the most striking images can be abstracted in black and white to reveal shapes and relationships between objects in linear perspective, isometric or flat perspective or with no perspective at all.

    Experimenting with viewpoint and perspective is an area I want to explore much more – exploring how to get very different effects through altering the relationship between perspective, line, tone and colour.  My earlier art and photography courses had really only touched on linear perspectives – dynamic lines and diagonals and importance of viewpoint. The possibilities of isometric, flat and magical perspective are exciting.  I also enjoyed the abstract experimentation with the accidental images. I explore perspective in more detail in Parts 2, 3 and 4. But I have so far only scratched  the surface.

    Review of earlier work

    I had already done quite a lot of perspective drawing in different media for earlier OCA drawing and painting courses – mostly one point or multiple perspective. I started by reviewing these so that this exercise took my thinking further rather than just repeating what I had already done. See below.

    With this project I wanted to really experiment with the effects of different parameters – eye line to create the feeling of being a child, how to appear looking down, how to create a feeling of voyeurism, how to create an expansive feel. I also wanted particularly to experiment with perspective grids in Illustrator, and using different types of brush to get different digital effects.

    Inspiration

    De Chirico – use of multiple vanishing points and shadows that do not follow linear perspective to give a menacing or uneasy feel.

    Alessandro Gottardo – bending of perspective to create compositional effects.

    Adam Simpson who uses flat and isometric perspective

    Geoff Grandfield who uses flat or exaggerated perspective to create drama and narrative.

    David Hockney – perspective collages

    Eric Ravillious – watercolours of rooms with split perspectives

    Grosvenor School – linocut artists who bend and exaggerate perspective to represent  speed and drama.

    Patrick Caulfield who often flattens perspective to complement the flat colour

    Will Scott flat abstraction

    MC Escher (from recent exhibition in Dulwich Gallery)

    Dave McKean : dramatic childs’ eye and bird’s eye views in some of his graphic novels

    Persian miniatures (see printout in sketchbook)

    Chinese scrolls and isometric perspective (see video on David Hockney post)

    Egyptian and Greek Art (flat perspective)

    One point perspective

    In one point perspective all vertical lines remain parallel, usually at 90 degrees to the horizon line, while horizontal lines converge to one vanishing point on the horizon line. Alternatively in a bird’s eye view or view looking up, all vertical lines may converge to one point in the viewer’s line of view, while horizontal lines remain parallel.

    Many of my earlier drawings were in one point perspective.

    In order to take this further I decided I would do a rough charcoal drawing to scan and experiment with in Illustrator perspective grids – something that was new to me.

    The view that I thought most exaggerated one-point perspective was the view through the door from the lounge into the hall – one I had done before. But I experimented with different viewpoints – sketching two versions – one for a tall person looking down, a close-up feel, and one for a small person with low eye level giving a more distanced spacious feel. Inspired by some of the drawings by Escher, I also quickly tried a curved version just to see what that might look like.

    In Illustrator I then put the first image onto a perspective grid and manipulated this to explore different types of effect – varying the eye line, position of the vanishing point in relation to the rest of the image, angles of view and cropping. I did some further sketches and identified different interpretations and areas of focus or mystery that the image could lead the viewer to.

    I then started to explore the effects of different tonal relationships.

    With different types of line and brush – following up on possible differences in effect from different media from Project 1.1.

    Finally with different colours, following up on Project 1.3.

    One point perspective gives a feeling of direction. It is possible to experiment with:

    • eye level: to give the view of a child (low eye-level), or an adult and taller person (high eye level). It is also possible to have very high (bird’s eye) or very low viewpoints onto the picture plane for very dramatic effects.
    • position of the vanishing point: central or off central, hidden etc
    • angle of view: steeper angles give a closer wide angle feel, narrower angles give a telephoto feel.
    • realism means that beyond the 60 degree cone of view the image would be slightly curved and less sharp

    I also made a number of discoveries through printing errors that pointed to other possible areas of experimentation.

    Accidental aliens

    I printing out all the Illustrator experiments, I got the print settings wrong so the whole of all the artboards printed – giving all the small squares arms, legs and noses. Different versions had different expressions – some were more Aztec, others angry. So rather than throwing the paper away, I experimented a bit with different scenarios.

    Abstraction

    I made another mistake on one printing of the linear perspective series above, accidentally printing out at very large size. Again rather than throw the paper away I made a series of collages to explore the different effects of different line dynamics. These create ideas that I could take forward either as flat illustrations, bringing altered perspective in or moving further towards magical realism. Some like the last two suggest entirely new images and interpretations – and can be turned around or upside down to suggest even more as a source of inspiration.

    1 point perspective sketches

    Two point perspective

    In two point perspective all vertical lines remain parallel, usually at 90 degrees to the horizon line, while horizontal lines to left and right converge to separate vanishing points. Alternatively all horizontal lines may remain parallel while vertical lines to top and bottom converge towards separate vanishing points.

    It was more difficult to find an interesting view with two point perspective in the same rooms. The images above are still not really 2-point perspective except on the door, though the image is split.

    The view I chose was the angle of the arch going one way into the lounge and on the right to the dining room, giving a split view. This was inspired by some of the interiors by Eric Ravillious.

    I first sketched this in charcoal.

    I then wanted to see how far I could warp and distort the view using the perspective warp in Photoshop. The digital sumi-e image I flattened the right hand side of the image and stretched the left side. Squashing things on the right makes me wonder much more what is happening outside the frame – the light from the window is intensified. Though the distortion on the left no longer has a vanishing point.

    Two point perspective gives a sense of indecision – which way to look? Again the eye line, angles and position of the mid line can be altered to create different effects.

    I look in more detail at 2 point perspective in Part 2.

    Three point perspective

    In three point perspective all vertical and horizontal lines will have their own vanishing points. (NOTE there is also four point perspective where left, right and top, down all have their vanishing points).

    There are a lot of the examples of dramatic 3 point perspective cityscapes (See Architectural illustration) . But many examples of ‘3 point perspective’ on the web  are really one point perspective or multiple vanishing points on a horizon line. The linocut mineshaft below is just 1 point looking down.

    It was difficult to find a view with 3 point perspective in the same room because there is not enough height. The views of my bedroom above (from earlier art courses) are not really it. Even if I went to the stairway, this would also have been one point perspective looking up or down.

    This nearest I could find was looking down at an angle on the table and carpet. But I need to rethink this – put my paper on a large board and mark on the vanishing points. And redraw.

    The resulting drawing provided some interesting possibilities for abstraction using Procreate that could be explored further – even with a less than perfect perspective drawing.

    But I need to think carefully about the eyeline – is this in the direction of my view, but my actual eyeline? That is where I was getting confused.

    I look in more detail at 3 point perspective in Part 2.

    Isometric perspective

    In isometric perspective all parallel lines follow the same fixed path.

    Chinese perspective was more or less isometric, though it often had multiple vanishing points. This was because many drawing were done on long scrolls that made linear perspective impossible. One effect of this that has been noted is that it gives an ‘imperial view’ a vista over a wide landscape to emphasis imperial power.

    Isometric drawing is particularly used in technical and architectural drawing where people want to know which distances are equivalent, and illusions of depth is not important. Illustrations using isometric perspective often have a childlike ‘lego-brick’ feel as in Adam Simpson‘s ‘boundaries’ and ‘loveth well’ images.

    Some of my earlier paintings had sort of used isometric perspective in the sense that it is approximated in Cezanne’s still lifes.

    Isometric perspective was new to me. I found it difficult even using isometric paper – whether things should go up or down around the horizon line – the door here was particularly problematic as part of it is above and part below. Possibly logically as all lines go up, the lightshade should also go up. It looks odd.

    But the effect of the painting over life drawing, coupled with different colouring experiments in procreate can produce some quite interesting images.

    This is a type of perspective I could explore further. Some of my earlier images of interiors like the pen drawing of the bathroom and the still lifes could have been made more definitely isometric and that might have made them more interesting.

     Flat perspective

    Here the lack of visual depth makes the whole surface area equally important. It has a different visual dynamic, placing more emphasis on abstract line, colour and shape. This approach is often used by illustrators involved in pattern-making, fabric design, textiles and other surface-based media. It is also common in film animations.

     See overview of flat perspective

    Some of my earlier work in drawing and painting courses had almost been flat – and could have been more interesting if they had been intentionally flattened – though that was not the aim of the course. Some of the isometric images above could also be flattened and made more interesting. Some of the colour images in Project 1.3 are also flat, and the flatness could have been further exaggerated along with different colour and size combinations to produce more interesting abstract images.

    I did two images moving round the room and joined them together into one long image in my sketchbook. I like this flat deadpan effect.

    I later experimented with the image in Procreate – first digitally joining the two pages – a little tricky as they did not quite fit in tone. I experimented with different blend modes to get different moods in the room. But in general I found there was too much detail for this.

    I then started to crop – first just using a single image. I found that very fine differences in cropping elements like the door could give very different meanings – either a very small dark area something that is not noticed, an annoying white area that has no meaning, or a slightly larger area that indicates another place of interest that is hidden from view. Cropping out altogether was not so interesting.

    I also experimented with different crops on the joined image, experimenting again with different tones and blend modes. This produced the two images I like best – exaggerating the patterns and strangeness of the flatness.

    This type of perspective would be interesting for a panorama – something I have become increasingly interested in in photography although here one gets interesting perspective distortions. I could also have exaggerated my earlier images of my bedroom and the bathroom also in this way in ink.

    Magical realism

    Storytelling does not have to fully use the rules of perspective. They can use them partially, or reinvent the world along new visual lines, distorting and bending perspective and playing with scale and other cues to visual depth. In this way they can construct new symbolism or narrative meanings and connections and new ways of looking at the world. Surrealism often distorts perspective as well as using unusual juxtapositions.

    See for example de Chirico and MC Escher for surreal effects. Geoff Grandfield significantly alters the relative scale of different elements in his images to create mystery and hidden meanings that only become apparent when the eye follows his dynamic perspective lines. David Hockney‘s ‘joiner’ photomontages also play with the idea of perspective, as does cubism. In some of my own earlier paintings I was also very interested in distorting perspectives, as in the final image inspired by the Fitzwilliam Museum lobby stairs above.

    For this exercise I started by doing a somewhat random photomontage from my memories and impressions of the room. I made things like the arch bigger, opposite the window – all ways to light and the outside. I made the doors narrower with just a slit to the light in the hall. Then the lamp in the middle larger – it hits tall guests on the head if they don’t look where they are going but is also a key feature of the room. I then printed this image out on art photo paper and made a brush pen version in black ink over the top.

    Later I brought this into Procreate and experimented with different versions and colours – making the room light or dark, and leading the eye through into gardens with different weather. I also printed different layered versions – with just line, and with just the shading. The abstracted shading I find very interesting and something to explore further.

    Finally I put all that away and just did a drawing with a large clutch pencil – different from the photo as I realised there were important elements in the room like the crayon picture of the dog on the wall done by my daughter as a Christmas present when she was about 7.

    I found the pencil sketch from memory interesting to do – liberating in many ways and something I would want to do more of in other contexts also.

  • Alex Katz

    Alex Katz website

    Biography

    Images Google

    You Tube videos

    Painting and printmaking

    (from Wikipedia)

    Katz’s paintings are defined by their flatness of colour and form, their economy of line, and their cool but seductive emotional detachment. A key source of inspiration is the woodcuts produced by Japanese artist Kitagawa Utamaro.

    Beginning in the late 1950s, Katz developed a technique of painting on cut panels, first of wood, then aluminum, calling them “cutouts”. In the early 1960s, influenced by films, television, and billboard advertising, Katz began painting large-scale paintings, often with dramatically cropped faces.  These works would occupy space like sculptures, but their physicality is compressed into planes, as with paintings. In later works, the cutouts are attached to wide, U-shaped aluminum stands, with a flickering, cinematic presence enhanced by warm spotlights. Most are close-ups, showing either front-and-back views of the same figure’s head or figures who regard each other from opposite edges of the stand.

    After 1964, Katz increasingly portrayed groups of figures. He would continue painting these complex groups into the 1970s, portraying the social world of painters, poets, critics, and other colleagues that surrounded him. He began designing sets and costumes for choreographer Paul Taylor in the early 1960s, and he has painted many images of dancers throughout the years. One Flight Up (1968) consists of more than 30 portraits of some of the leading lights of New York’s intelligentsia during the late 1960s, such as the poet John Ashbery, the art critic Irving Sandler and the curator Henry Geldzahler, who championed Andy Warhol. Each portrait is painted using oils on both sides of a sliver of aluminium that has then been cut into the shape of the subject’s head and shoulders. The silhouettes are arranged predominantly in four long rows on a plain metal table.

    Portraits Google

    After his Whitney exhibition in 1974, Katz focused on landscapes stating “I wanted to make an environmental landscape, where you were IN it.”

    Landscapes Google

    In the late 1980s, Katz took on a new subject in his work: fashion models in designer clothing, including Kate Moss and Christy Turlington. “I’ve always been interested in fashion because it’s ephemeral,” he said.

    Printmaking

    In 1965, Katz also embarked on a prolific career in printmaking. Katz would go on to produce many editions in lithography, etching, silkscreen, woodcut and linoleum cut, producing over 400 print editions in his lifetime.

    Website Print Archive

    Linocuts Google

    Screenprints Google

  • Dutch landscapes

    View over a Flat Landscape: Jan Josefsz van Goyen (oil on panel 1642) a moody painting of a completely flat landscape with cows, where the top two thirds of the frame is occupied by the grey clouds, but with subtle sunlight breaking through on the horizon line in the far distance.
    Landscape with a River Bank : Jan Josefsz van Goyen (oil on panel 1635-1640) a very muted colour painting of the far back of the river with a church – very much like the view over the Cam to Fen Ditton
    Flat Landscape with a Broad River: Philips Koninck (oil on canvas c 1648) again very muted colours, dominated by the sky. The sky is now looming overhead with nearer clouds larger and again subtle lighting on the horizon and the river.
    Polder Landscape: Paul Joseph Constantin Gabriël (watercolour 1828-1903) simple monochrome image of two barges. Here the focus is on the water and some birds in the foreground. The horizon to a featureless sky is in the middle of the frame.
    Landscape: Adriaen van Ostade (oil on panel 1639) a summer image with a very dramatic stormy sky with bright patches of light on the ground from breaks in the cloud. The horizon line is again low just above the bottom third of the frame.
    Snowy Landscape with fences in the foreground: Charles Donker etching 1988 a misty simple monochrome print with large featureless sky, a row of skeletal trees of different types silhouetted against it and fences lines through the snow.

    Van Ruysdale



    Van Goyen

  • Colour theory for illustration

    In visual perception a color is almost never seen as it really is – as it physically is. This fact makes color the most relative medium in art.

    Albers  Interaction of Color 1963 p1

    Key colour issues in printmaking

    • Tone is perceived first, then colours (yellow first), and then the image. This means that the underlying tonal shape structure of an image is of primary importance. Using flat primary colours will detract attention from the image – making colour the subject.
    • Hue is inherently problematic. The effects of mixing different pigment hues will vary depending on issues like transparency, saturation, value. Artists may choose to focus on local or optical colour.
    • Optical mixing occurs as the brain interpretes colours, successive and simultaneous contrast. So perception of hue will depend on the relationship between elements in the composition. 
    • Colour responses in terms of perception, meaning and emotional response is a complex combination of hard-wiring of human perception, biological variation (eg colour-blindness) between different viewers and cultural associations.Or use completely arbitrary colours to impose their own feelings and interpretation onto the image.

    Basic Colour Theory

    Colour can only exist when three components are present: a viewer, an object, and light. Our perception of colour depends on both physical factors relating to the way the eye registers light and more psychological and cultural factors that affect the way the brain reacts to and interprets colours and their relationships to each other. Artists and designers have used and experimented with complexities and ambiguities in interactions between physical and psychological dimensions of colour to portray emotions and question the nature of perception.

    Physical properties of light

    Light consists of rays of different wavelengths. When light strikes a surface, certain wavelengths are absorbed and others are reflected by its pigments. Different combinations of reflected wavelengths form all the observed colours.  Although pure white light is perceived as colourless, it actually contains all colours in the visible spectrum. When white light hits an object, it selectively blocks some colours and reflects others; only the reflected colours contribute to the viewer’s perception of colour.

    Prism: White Light and the Visible Spectrum

    Virtually all our visible colours can be produced by utilizing some combination of the three primary colours, either by additive or subtractive processes. 

    Additive Primary Colors
    Additive Primary Colours: Additive digital processes as in computer monitors add light to a dark background based on RGB primaries. All three colours make white.
    Subtractive Primary Colors
    Subtractive Primary Colours: CMYK.  pigment colours. Subtractive processes use pigments or dyes to selectively block white light. All three colours make black.

     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Naturally occurring colours are not just light at one wavelength, but actually contain a whole range of wavelengths. A colour’s “hue” describes which wavelength appears to be most dominant. The object whose spectrum is shown below would likely be perceived as bluish, even though it contains wavelengths throughout the spectrum.

    Color Hue
    Visible Spectrum

    Although this spectrum’s maximum happens to occur in the same region as the object’s hue, it is not a requirement. If this object instead had separate and pronounced peaks in just the the red and green regions, then its hue would instead be yellow (see the additive colour mixing table).

    Human perception

    Biology of the eye
    The human eye senses this spectrum using a combination of rod and cone cells for vision. Rod cells are better for low-light vision, but can only sense the intensity of light, whereas while cone cells can also discern colour, they function best in bright light.
    Three types of cone cells exist in your eye, with each being more sensitive to either short (S), medium (M), or long (L) wavelength light. The set of signals possible at all three cone cells describes the range of colours we can see with our eyes. The diagram below illustrates the relative sensitivity of each type of cell for the entire visible spectrum. These curves are often also referred to as the “tristimulus functions.”

    Select View: Cone Cells Luminosity



    Raw data courtesy of the Colour and Vision Research Laboratories (CVRL), UCL.

    Cambridge in Colour:  Colour Perception

    Note how each type of cell does not just sense one colour, but instead has varying degrees of sensitivity across a broad range of wavelengths. Move your mouse over “luminosity” to see which colours contribute the most towards our perception of brightness. Also note how human colour perception is most sensitive to light in the yellow-green region of the spectrum; this is utilized by the bayer array in modern digital cameras.

    Eye to brain

    As light passes into the eye it strikes the retina at the back of the eye which consists of layers of cells including:

    • rods – that perceive black and white and allow us to see dimly lit forms
    • cones – that help us perceive hues. The cones in the eye only recognise red (long wavelengths), blue-viiolet (short wavelengths) and green (middle wavelengths). They relay these colour messages to the cones of the fovea, an area at the centre of the retina, whose cones transmit to the brain.

    The brain then assimilates the red, blue-violet and green impulses and mixes them into a single message that informs us of the colour being viewed.
    There are many factors affecting our perception of a colour, such as the surroundings of the object, its surface texture, and the lighting conditions under which it is seen. How much of a colour is used, whether it is bright, dull, light or dark, and where it is placed in relation to another colour are also crucial factors in our perception.
    – local colour: the wavelengths that are reflected by a surface under consitions of white light
    – optical colour: the combination of local colour with light striking it and other surrounding colours
     
    Subtractive processes are more susceptible to changes in ambient light, because this light is what becomes selectively blocked to produce all their colours.

    COLOR PROPERTIES: HUE & SATURATION

    Color has two unique components that set it apart from achromatic light: hue and saturation. Visually describing a colour based on each of these terms can be highly subjective, however each can be more objectively illustrated by inspecting the light’s colour spectrum.
     
    A color’s saturation is a measure of its purity. A highly saturated color will contain a very narrow set of wavelengths and appear much more pronounced than a similar, but less saturated color. The following example illustrates the spectrum for both a highly saturated and less saturated shade of blue.

    Select Saturation Level: Low High

    Spectral Curves for Low and High Saturation Color

     

    Dimensions of colour

    hue
    A colour without any black, gray, white or complementary is called a pure hue and occurs in Newton’s light spectrum. Primary colours are those which cannot be mixed using other colours, secondaries the result of mixing two primaries and tertiary colours, the result of mixing secondaries with one of their adjacent secondaries. Broken hues are the result of mixing these pure hues with their complement to produce browns and greys.
    However there is significant variation between colour theorists as to how they identify primary colours, and also between additive methods (RGB used where light is added and where white is the result of mixing all light wavelengths) and subtractive methods (CMYK and pigment mixing as in printmaking or paint where black is the result of mixing all colours).
    Moreover pigments are rarely pure. The results from mixing also depend on the relative colour temperature of each of the colours being mixed.
    value
    Pure hues vary in value from yellow (lightest) to violet (darkest) This means that when mixing them it will also alter the value. If you squint when looking at two hues of similar value they will merge together. When pigments of equal value are mixed together this gives a darker value because more wavelengths are absorbed and fewer reflected.
    Value changes convey texture, are used for shadows and form. Sharp contrasts in value produce the effect of precision, firmness, objectivity and alertness. Close values produce feelings of haziness, softness, quiet, rest, brooding etc. Dark compositions give feelings of night, darkness, mystery and fear. Light compositions of illumination, clarity and optimism. Middle values are relaxed and often go unnoticed.
    Discords: when the value of a hue is altered by the addition of black, white or another colour opposite to its natural value order eg adding violet and white to make lavender.
    intensity (also termed saturation or chroma) defines the degree of purity or brightness (as opposed to light) or how dull (as opposed to dark) a colour is. Pure hues are those where there is no black, white or complementary colour added.
    When pure black or pure white are present they are notices before the other hues and colours present.
    Pure hues differ in chroma strength – lighter hues have stronger chromatic strength.
    Pure hues can be dulled to coloured greys through adding grey of the same value. Or mixing with complementaries to produce a shade.
    Neutral greys can be obtained through mxing false pairs – orange and green, green and violet, violet and orange. But they tend to favour one of the parent hues and are less powerful than those made by combining complementary hues. They can also be produced through layering.
    Intensity can create effects on objects in space.
    – high intensities make an object seem large and pushes it forward in the visual field
    – light pure values like yellow advance most on a dark background and least on a white background
    – pure hues have a relative strength. if balance is required, they should be used in the right proportion.
    temperature
    Temperature refers to the warmness or coolness of colour.
    – Warm hues are yellow, yellow-orange, orange, orange-red, red and red-violet.
    – Cool hues are
    Certain colours relax us, others stimulate us.

    Cultural factors

    Memory, experiences and cultural background all affect the way a colour’s impact can vary from individual to individual.
    Factors such as linguistic distinctions can even affect perception of colour – in some languages there is no distinction between blue and green and so although people can distinguish when questioned they do not make an immediate distinction. Even where colours are perceived similarly, they may mean different things – in Asian cultures white is associated with death. Red is associated with happiness and luck. In Western cultures black is associated with death and white with purity. Red is associated with danger and blood.
    colour associations
    influenced bybthe types of pigments available and their value.
    blue   lapis lazuli for the madonna
    purple   mollusc in ancient greece so royalty
    ochres and earth colour
    red vermillion  marriage and luck in asian cutures
    black  terry frost absorbs all other colours. means a kind of depth. malevich black square
    white purity. turns away other colours.

    Artistic interpretations

    Artists may choose to focus on local or optical colour. Or use ciompletely arbitrary colours to impose their feelings and interpretation onto the image.

    Colour harmony

    In reverse order of contrast:

    Monochromatic

    a single hue with its tints and shades produced by mixing with white, black (or its complememtary?)

    Analogous

    three or more hues that are next to each other on the colour wheel. Analogous schemes are most emphatic when the common hue is primary. They are most harmonious when the middle hue is primary (eg red-orange, red, red-violet rather than orange, red-orange and red).

    Double complementary

    split complementary

    Triad

    equidistant on the colour wheel. These result in a dominance of warm or cool.

    quadrad

    where the hues are equidistant on the colour wheel.

    Complementary

    Colour interactions

    Itten and Albers studied the interaction between hues and the ways in which our perception of hues and tones is altered radically by the other colours surrounding them.
    Successive contrast
    Simultaneous contrast
    Vibration where certain hues meet.
    Bounding with white or black.
    Disappearing boundaries: where analogous hues meet
    Dissolving boundaries: where broken hues meet
    This can be used to create mysterious effects. Or combatted using sharp edges.
    Discords play a supportring role – they are easily overshadowed by colours that are not discorded, but they stop the tendency of hues to spread visually. Large areas in discorded colours should be avoided as they weaken a composition. But small areas reduce monotony. Light discors also produce the best highlights (because they are unexpected and attract attention??) The discord chosen should be based on the primary colour closest to the object featured in the hightlight, or the next closest primary on the coliur wheel.
    When colors or shades of grey are sequenced in a composition eading from ligt to dark or dark to light then the eye is comfortable. But when the esquence is broken eg gray background, followed by white then black then the effect is jarring eg dramatic skies. El Greco View of Toledo.

    Rhythm, repetition and movement

    Repeating colours can lead the eye through a composition and create a sense of movement.
    Emphasis can be accomplished by using colour in a number of ways
    – colour contrast: bright/dull, light/dark, warm/cool
    – area size: large areas of a colour versus small
    – texture: rough versus smooth
    – use of arbitrary colour
    – unusual detailing
    – contrast with surroundings
    Harmony can be achieved through:
    – repetition
    – similarity
    – use of tonality
    – surrounding a colour with a neutral colour

    Inspiration

    Impressionism
    Pointillim
    Fauvism
    Expressionism
    Alex Katz
    Andy Warhol
    Patrick Caulfield
    In printmaking, particularly relief prints, there is clear colour separation on the printing plate. This can use either layering and mixing, or optical mixing through juxtaposition.

    Useful links

    Cambridge in colour – technical notes on colour perception, colour harmony and colour management for photographers.

    In visual perception a color is almost never seen as it really is – as it physically is. This fact makes color the most relative medium in art.

    Albers  Interaction of Color 1963 p1

    Our perception of colour depends on both physical factors relating to the way the eye registers light and more psychological and cultural factors that affect the way the brain reacts to and interprets colours and their relationships to each other.

    Artists and designers have used and experimented with complexities and ambiguities in interactions between physical and psychological dimensions of colour to portray emotions and question the nature of perception. They may choose to focus on local or optical colour.

    Some key implications of colour theory for illustration:

    • Artists may choose to focus on local or optical colour. Or use completely arbitrary colours to impose their own feelings and interpretation onto the image.
    • Tone is perceived first, then colours (yellow first), and then the image. Using flat primary colours will detract attention from the image – making colour the subject and tending towards abstraction of shapes.
    • Optical mixing is inevitable as the brain interprets colours, successive and simultaneous contrast.
    • Consider the effects of using strokes around shapes to increase or reduce colour vibration effects.
    • Precisely replicating colours across different media is difficult (eg RGB and CMYK) and devices (different printers and monitors).
    • It is desirable to allow for individual differences in perception eg colour-blindness or epileptic reactions. Some software allow for simulation of the ways in which images will be differently viewed.
    • It is important to be aware of cultural differences in interpretation of colour depending on ones audience.
    • All these factors affect the relationship between colours and harmony/tension in composition of an image and the ways in which the image as a whole will be interpreted.

    Notes on Colour Theory

    What follows brings together my notes and experimentation from previous painting, photography and printmaking courses and updates these notes as relevant for this course. See references at then end.

    Physical factors

    Light

    Light consists of rays of different wavelengths. When light strikes a surface, certain wavelengths are absorbed and others are reflected by its pigments. Different combinations of reflected wavelengths form all the observed colours.

    Eye to brain

    As light passes into the eye it strikes the retina at the back of the eye which consists of layers of cells including:

    • rods – that perceive black and white and allow us to see dimly lit forms
    • cones – that help us perceive hues. The cones in the eye only recognise red (long wavelengths), blue-violet (short wavelengths) and green (middle wavelengths). They relay these colour messages to the cones of the fovea, an area at the centre of the retina, whose cones transmit to the brain.

    The brain then assimilates the red, blue-violet and green impulses and mixes them into a single message that informs us of the colour being viewed.

    Perceptions of colour vary significantly between individuals depending on eye and brain biology eg degrees of blindness to particular colours, ways in which stimuli pass along the optic nerve etc.

    There are many other factors affecting our perception of a colour, such as:

    • the surroundings of the object
    • its surface texture
    • the lighting conditions under which it is seen.

    How much of a colour is used, whether it is bright, dull, light or dark, and where it is placed in relation to another colour are also crucial factors in our perception. A distinction is usually made between:

    • local colour: the wavelengths that are reflected by a surface under conditions of white light
    • optical colour: the combination of local colour with light striking it and other surrounding colours

     

    Dimensions of colour

    Hue
    Pure hues: A colour without any black, grey, white or complementary is called a pure hue and occurs in Newton’s light spectrum.

    • Primary colours are those which cannot be mixed using other colours
    • Secondaries the result of mixing two primaries
    • Tertiary colours, the result of mixing secondaries with one of their adjacent secondaries.

    Broken hues are the result of mixing these pure hues with their complement to produce browns and greys.

    However there is significant variation between colour theorists as to how they identify primary colours, and also between additive methods (RGB used where light is added and where white is the result of mixing all light wavelengths) and subtractive methods (CMYK and pigment mixing as in printmaking or paint where black is the result of mixing all colours). Moreover pigments are rarely pure. The results from mixing also depend on the relative colour temperature of each of the colours being mixed.

    Value

    The lightness or darkness of a hue, or tone. Pure hues vary in value from yellow (lightest) to violet (darkest) This means that  mixing them will also alter the value. If you squint when looking at two hues of similar value they will merge together. When pigments of equal value are mixed together this gives a darker value because more wavelengths are absorbed and fewer reflected.

    Value changes convey texture, are used for shadows and form. Sharp contrasts in value produce the effect of precision, firmness, objectivity and alertness. Close values produce feelings of haziness, softness, quiet, rest, brooding etc. Dark compositions give feelings of night, darkness, mystery and fear. Light compositions of illumination, clarity and optimism. Middle values are relaxed and often go unnoticed.

    Discords: when the value of a hue is altered by the addition of black, white or another colour opposite to its natural value order eg adding violet and white to make lavender.

    intensity (also termed saturation or chroma) defines the degree of purity or brightness (as opposed to light) or how dull (as opposed to dark) a colour is.

    Pure hues are those where there is no black, white or complementary colour added. When pure black or pure white are present they are noticed before the other hues and colours present. Pure hues differ in chroma strength – lighter hues have stronger chromatic strength. Pure hues can be dulled to coloured greys through adding grey of the same value. Or mixing with complementaries to produce a shade.

    Neutral greys can be obtained through mixing false pairs – orange and green, green and violet, violet and orange. But they tend to favour one of the parent hues and are less powerful than those made by combining complementary hues. They can also be produced through layering.

    Intensity can create effects on objects in space.

    • high intensities make an object seem large and pushes it forward in the visual field
    • light pure values like yellow advance most on a dark background and least on a white background
    • pure hues have a relative strength. if balance is required, they should be used in the right proportion.

    Temperature
    Temperature refers to the warmness or coolness of colour.

    • Warm hues are reds and secondary and tertiary hues of red (warm yellows, yellow-orange, orange, orange-red, red and red-violet). Warm hues appear nearer to us and are generally more stimulating.
    • Cool hues are blues and secondary and tertiary hues of blue (cool lemon yellows,  greens and bluish violet. Cool hues appear further away and are generally more relaxing.

    Cultural factors

    Cultural background and experiences affect a colour’s impact.

    Factors such as linguistic distinctions can affect perception of colour – in some languages there is no distinction between blue and green and so although people can distinguish when questioned they do not make an immediate distinction.

    The ways in which colours are interpreted will vary between cultures and for different groups, and even from individual to individual. Even where colours are perceived similarly, they may mean different things – in Asian cultures white is associated with death. Red is associated with happiness and luck. In Western cultures black is associated with death and white with purity. Red is associated with danger and blood.

    Colour associations are also influenced by the types of pigments available and their material value. For example:

    • blue   lapis lazuli for the madonna
    • purple   mollusc in ancient greece so royalty
    • ochres and earth colour
    • red vermillion:  marriage and luck in Asian cultures
    • black: means purity in Islamic cultures
    • white purity. turns away other colours.

    Colour harmony

    Colour harmonies have conventionally been categorised as:

    • Monochromatic: a single hue with its tints and shades produced by mixing with white, black (or its complement)
    • Analogous: three or more hues that are next to each other on the colour wheel. Analogous schemes are most emphatic when the common hue is primary. They are most harmonious when the middle hue is primary (eg red-orange, red, red-violet rather than orange, red-orange and red).
    • Complementary: colours opposite each other on the colour wheel. But different artists may use different colour wheels, complements are different between RGB and CMYK.
    • Split complementary: a colour and the two colours surrounding its complement.
    • Triad: equidistant on the colour wheel. These result in a dominance of warm or cool.
    • Quadrad: where the four hues are equidistant on the colour wheel.

    However in recent years colour choices have become much more varied, partly because of artist experimentation to ‘break the rules’, different cultural influences and also because of the rise of digital software that enable the rapid generation of a range of colour options – for example Adobe colour.

    Colour interactions

    Itten and Albers studied the interaction between hues and the ways in which our perception of hues and tones is altered radically by the other colours surrounding them. The effects of interactions can be altered by using coloured strokes around shapes.

    • Successive contrast: perception of each colour is followed by perception of its complement as eye and brain adapt – this is seen by staring at a colour for some time then closing one’s eyes.
    • Simultaneous contrast: where adjacent colours interact with each other. Simultaneous contrast is most intense when the two colours are complementary colours.
    • Vibration where certain hues meet: Disappearing boundaries: where analogous hues meet. Dissolving boundaries: where broken hues meet
      This can be used to create mysterious effects. Or combatted using sharp edges.
    • Discords play a supporting role – they are easily overshadowed by colours that are not discorded, but they stop the tendency of hues to spread visually. Large areas in discorded colours should be avoided as they weaken a composition. But small areas reduce monotony. Light discords also produce the best highlights (because they are unexpected and attract attention??) The discord chosen should be based on the primary colour closest to the object featured in the highlight, or the next closest primary on the colour wheel.

    When colours or shades of grey are sequenced in a composition leading from light to dark or dark to light then the eye is comfortable. But when the sequence is broken eg grey background, followed by white then black then the effect is jarring eg dramatic skies. El Greco View of Toledo.

    Rhythm, repetition and movement

    Repeating colours can lead the eye through a composition and create a sense of movement.

    Emphasis can be accomplished by using colour in a number of ways

    • colour contrast: bright/dull, light/dark, warm/cool
    • area size: large areas of a colour versus small
    • texture: rough versus smooth
    • use of arbitrary colour
    • unusual detailing
    • contrast with surroundings

    Harmony can be achieved through:

    • repetition
    • similarity
    • use of tonality
    • surrounding a colour with a neutral colour

    Inspiration

    References

    Albers, J. (1963). Interaction of Colour. New Haven & London, Yale University Press.

    Barringer, T., et al. (2012). David Hockney: A Bigger Picture. London, Royal Academy of the Arts.

    Batchelor, D., Ed. (2008). Colour. London and Cambridge Mass., Whitechapel Gallery and the MIT Press.

    Britain, T. (2013). Gary Hume. London, Tate Publishing.

    Davis, G. (2008). 2000 Colour Palette Swatches : The Designer’s Toolkit. East Sussex, UK, ILEX.

    Dobie, J. (1986). Making Color Sing : Practical lessons in Color and Design. New York, Watson-Guptill Publications.

    Eiseman, L. (2000). Pantone Guide to Communicating with Colour. Cincinatti, Ohio, GRAFIXPRESS.

    Feisner, E. A. (2000). Colour : How to Use Colour in Art and Design. London, Laurence King Publishing.

    Gage, J. (1999). Colour and Meaning: Art, Science and Symbolism. London, Thames & Hudson.

    Greenwood, K. (2015). 100 Years of Colour : Beautiful Images and Inspirational Palettes from a Century of Innovative Art, Illustration and Design. London, ILEX.

    Hornung, D. (2005). Colour : a workshop for artists and designers. London, Laurence King Publishing.

    Hudson, T. (2004). Hockney’s Pictures, Thames & Hudson.

    Itten, J. (1961). The Elements of Colour. London, Wiley.

    Jennings, S. (2003). Artists’ Colour Manual, Collins.

    Livingstone, M. (2005). Patrick Caulfield. London, Lund Humphries.

    Lynton, N. (2007). William Scott. London, Thames & Hudson.

    Parker, A. (2005). Seven Deadly Colours: the Genius of Nature’s Palette. London, Natural History Museum.

    Parker, S. (2016). Colour and Vision through the eyes of nature, London, Natural History Museum.

    Roque, G. (2009). Art et Science de la Couleur: Chevreul et les peintres, de Delacroix a l’abstraction, Gallimard.

    Sausmarez, J. de. (2008). Basic Colour : A Practical Handbook. London, Herbert Press.

    Stevens, C. and A. Wilson, Eds. (2017). David Hockney. London, Tate Enterprises.

    Wilcox, M. (1987). Blue and Yellow don’t make Green: How to mix the colour you really want – every time. Penrith, Australia, School of Colour Publications.

    Zelanski, P. and M. P. Fisher (1989). Colour. London, Herbert Press.

    Useful links

    Color Matters wide general overview

    Cambridge in colour – technical notes on colour perception, colour harmony and colour management for photographers.

    Color Art has notes on vision science and art