The Science of Art:
How Artists Use
COLOR
Primary Colors
• Primary colors include
red, yellow, and blue.
• They can be mixed to
create all colors of the
rainbow.
• They are the foundation of
the color wheel.
• Dance at Bougival, by
Renior
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Source: http:// www.art.com
Secondary Colors
• Secondary colors include
orange, green, and violet
(purple).
• They can be created by
mixing the primary colors.
• They are also located on
the color wheel.
• Improvisation 31, by
Kandinsky
Source: www.nga.gov/kids/kandinsky/kandinsky1.html
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The Color Wheel
• The primary colors are red,
yellow, and blue.
• The secondary colors are
orange green, and violet
(purple).
• Starting at the top and moving
clockwise, the colors in order
are red, orange, yellow, green,
blue, and violet (purple)-the
same as the visible light
spectrum.
• (ROY G. BV)
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Complementary Colors
• Complementary colors are pairs
of colors that are located
opposite from one another on
the color wheel.
• Red and green
• Yellow and violet (purple)
• Blue and orange
• They appear to vibrate when
placed side by side.
• Homage to Bleriot, by Robert
Delaunay
Source: http://www.abstract-art.com/abstraction/l2_Grnfthrs_fldr/g024_delaunay_hmge2bleriot.html
http://mathinscience.info
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How is this useful in art?
• Artists can make use of the
science of color.
• Physically mixing colors may
dull them.
• Colors placed side by side may
allow our eyes to mix them
(optical mixing), especially
from a distance.
• Street, Dresden, by Kirchner
Source: http://www.moma.org/collection/depts/paint_sculpt/blowups/paint_sculpt_008.html
http://mathinscience.info
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Pointillism
• Pointillism is a technique of
painting in which many tiny
dots (or points) are combined to
form a picture.
• These dots may be as small as
1/16 of an inch in diameter.
• When 2 complementary colors
are placed side by side, each
will appear more vibrant and
intense than if viewed
separately.
• Hafen von St. Tropez, by Signac
Source: http://www.postershop.com
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Georges Seurat
• Seurat was an artist who
used pointillism.
• An example of his work is
A Sunday on la Grande
Jatte.
• It took him 2 years to
complete this painting.
• It is estimated to contain
about 3,456,000 dots!
Source: http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/eurptg/28pc_seurat.html
http://mathinscience.info
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Sources of Information
• http://www.geocities.com/bvijay/paints/Seurat.html
• How to Teach Art to Children, by Joy Evans and Jo Ellen
Moore
• “Monet, Renior, and the Impressionist Landscape,”
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
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Sources for Works of Art
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Slide 2, Dance at Bougival, by Renior (www.art.com)
Slide 3, Improvisation 31, by Kandinsky
(www.nga.gov/kids/kandinsky/kandinsky1.html)
Slide 5, Charing Cross Bridge, by Derain (http://btr0xw.rz.unibayreuth.de/cjackson/derain/p-derain1.htm)
Slide 6, Street, Dresden, by Kirchner
(http://www.moma.org/collection/depts/paint_sculpt/blowups/paint_sculpt_008.html)
Slide 7, Hafen von St. Tropez, by Signac (www.postershop.com)
Slide 8, A Sunday on la Grande Jatte, by Seurat
(www.artic.edu/aic/collections/eurptg/28pc_seurat.html)
http://mathinscience.info
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