Monet did a series of paintings in order to study the effect of light in painting, how light interacts with the colours.
COLOUR AND MUSIC
In music when we play a specific note, a succession of sub variations (or notes) can be heard. This is known as an overtone. This provides the listener a denser sound. This mix of notes and vibrations create a harmonic texture which is pleasant to listen to. Similarly, in colours, every shade we mix has an overtone, which ultimately makes the colour look richer. According to the hue/saturation colour wheel, colour can be divided into four types.
1. Prismatic colors
2. Muted colors
3. Chromatic grays
4. Achromatic grays
Prismatic colors- are the pure hues with maximum saturations.
Muted colors- are colors mixed with their complimentary colors, hence lower in saturation than the prismatic colors.
Chromatic grays- are colors with almost equal amounts of the color and the complimentary color. They are grays but still have some hue in them. They are low in saturation.
Achromatic grays- as the name suggests, are grays without any hue in them. They are very low in saturation.
Complimentary Hues
These hues are the opposite hues on a color wheel. When kept beside each other, they have the maximum contrast, this generates a strong visual interest and energy.
But when these colors are mixed together, they create a duller and darker version of the other color, compromising both value and saturation.
Low key values consist of darker values and high key values consist of lighter values.
Broad Hue range- many different hues
Narrow Hue range- limited number of hues
Broad Value Range- dark tones, mid tones, light tones
Narrow Value Range- values are very near to each other
How colors interact with each other
Color is the most relative thing in art. A color you mix on your palette can look very different on the actual painting depending on the hue, value and saturation of the neighboring colors.
If we place a neutral red on a cool blue, the cool blue will absorb the cool tones of the red and make it look like a warm red.
Van Gogh, shows in his letters, the importance he gave to colors. He uses terms like “blood-red” to describe a color. He refers to the luminosity of a surface when talking about the color, “yellowish matte complexion”. He writes about the colors he uses in a very detailed manner. He uses words like “light” and “deep” to signify the value and saturation respectively.
Pure colors play a big role in the way the viewer sees the painting, despite of the object or the other colors used in the work.
Color affects our psychological response and feelings and sometimes even overpower the objective understanding of the work. Colors have different symbolic meanings. Our understanding of these can depend upon the relative saturation and value of the color.
