Optical Mixtures
the Bezold Effect
Bridget Riley
Optical Mixtures
• Two or more colors next to each other to
create a blending, blurring , or neutralizing
effect.
Blending: Two colors placed next to
each other in small amounts will
seem to create their mixture,
Blue+red= violet
Size of color area and value of adjacent
colors will determine how successful
the illusion is.
Blurring: Two colors of similar hue,
value and saturation will seem to blur
into one another, making it difficult to
determine their edges. This works best
with ANALOGOUS colors—Colors next
to one another on the color wheel
Neutralizing: two complements will
optically mix to produce gray. This
was the theory pointilists followed.
In actuality, it doesn’t always work.
Many times complements produce
OPTICAL VIBRATIONS, rather than
optically mixing
Why use optical mixtures rather
than just mixing paints?
Creating Optical Mixtures using
additive primaries creates an effect
similar to the light-based color system.
Red and Green seem to create yellow
Blue and red seem to create magenta
Blue and green seem to create cyan
• Additionally, more luminosity is created than
with pigment mixing----similar to the additive
system.
• This was the intention behind movements like
Pointilism and Impressionism—to create a
sense of light by placing colors next to one
another rather than mixing colors.
Monet, Haystacks
Monet
George Seurat, Bathers
Chuck Close, Agnes
Chuck Close
Chuck Close, Studio shot
Richard Anuskiewics
The Bezold Effect
• Wilhelm Bezold, a textile designer discovered
that by changing one dominant color in a
pattern or composition, it is possible to
change the entire ‘look’ and ‘feel’ of the
composition.
Does the size of the red bricks seem to change? The size of the grout between
the bricks? What about the white square?
Which seems ‘softer’? How is the Bezold effect related to simultaneous contrast in this example?
• The Bezold Effect will be most effective if the
changing colors are very different in hue
and/or value—which is why so many examples
showed a black/white change.