UNIT #8Local & Relative ColorLouise Fisher / Color 113 / Fall 2017

Simultaneous ContrastTerm coined by Chevreul

Definition: Refers to colors that interact and affect one another, which can give them a different or varied appearance.

After-image (look at white dot for 30 sec.) The Flag

Jasper Johns

1969

Anni AlbersGerman, 1899-1994

Bauhaus School (Weimar)

Color theorist

Textile artist, designer, printmaker, educator

Optical MixturesDefinition: Colors that use tiny

amounts of other colors that visually

blend to create another color.

Intersecting, Anni Albers, 1962.

Devorah SperberAmerican, contemporary

Installation

Thread spools

Lens and optical color create illusion

Recreating famous images

After the Mona Lisa 8, 2010.

Complementary VibrationDefinition: An optical illusion that occurs

when two full-saturation complementary

hues are close in proximity, which create

the illusion of movement.

Fillmore Poster, Wes Wilson, 1966.

Wes Wilson-“Godfather” of psychedelic band posters

-The Fillmore in San Francisco (1960s)

-Influences: Art Nouveau, wallpaper design,

counter culture, rock n’ roll, and...

psychedelic drugs!

-Clients: The Doors, Grateful Dead, etc.

Bezold EffectDefinition: The effect of

changing the dominant color

in a given design and the

subsequent varying of all

the other colors.

Bridget RileyEnglish (1939-p.)

Op artist / painter

Interests:

Color relationships

Movement

Patterning

Local ColorDefinition: The natural “base” color an object

appears to have under normal lighting

conditions.

Ex: apple is red

However, physical objects are made of many colors!Close-up of an apple.

What colors do you see?

Relative ColorDefinition: The colors of an object

that change under the influence

of light, shadow and

atmospheric effects.

Project 5: Consciousness and ColorUsing media of your choice, create an artwork that utilizes:

1. Given color palette2. “Opposite” color palette3. One optical color technique

Be able to discuss the concept behind your work, and how it relates to

1. Consciousness (awareness of the mind, state of being awake)2. Perception (understanding, becoming aware through the senses)3. Transcendence (beyond ordinary existence or knowledge)

Student Examples

How do other species see the world in color?

Sand Painting (Navajo)-Practiced by Indigenous

tribes in SW (ex: Diné)

-Temporary & ceremonial

-Healing properties

-Portal to spirit realm

-Pigments made from

crushed stone (ex: gypsum)

Buddhist Mandalas -Tibetan sand painting

-Complex & temporary

-Destroyed: “impermanence”

-Sacred images of Buddhism

-Meditative act

-Offering to the Earth & water

Sagrada Familía (Barcelona, Spain)-Roman Catholic basilica

-Design by Spanish architect

Antoni Gaudi (1852-1936)

-Art Nouveau & gothic forms

-Symbolic light, color & form

“Color is the expression of life”

Sagrada Familía

Art21: Spirituality (2001)

John Feodorov cont.