Fundamentals of Visual Arts: Color
Color Theory
•In the visual arts, color theory is a body of practical guidance to color mixing and the
visual impacts of specific color combinations.
• Color theory principles in West first appeared in the writings of Leone Battista Alberti
(c.1435) and the notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (c.1490), (During Renaissance)
•But a tradition of "colory theory" began in the 18th century, initially within a partisan
controversy around Isaac Newton's theory of color (Opticks, 1704) and the nature of socalled primary colors
•By 19th Century various color theories were proposed by scientists and artists
•Earlier in traditional arts color was always considered as a filler. The drawing was the
main component
•With new researches in color theories and the expressive quality of color, it was
emancipated (freed) from the clutches of drawing
PRIMARY & SECONDARY
Some Important Terms
•HUE – a particular gradation of color
•SHADES AND TINT- by adding black and white resp)
•MONOCHROMATIC- one color
•WARM AND COOL COLORS•COMPLEMENTARY COLORS
•SATURATION – brilliance or depth of color
Primary, secondary, and tertiary colors of the RYB color model
•Complementary colors are pairs of colors that are of “opposite” hue in some color
model
•Analogous colors are neighbours on color wheel
Complementary and Analogous Colors
Barnett Newman, Dionysius, 1944, 67x49in.
Van Gogh, Sunflowers, 1888
Matisse,
Seated Riffian,
1912-13
Some examples and techniques from traditional Western Art
•FRESCO-
•SFUMATO
•CHAIROSCURO
•IMPASTO (modern)
•Fresco (plural either frescos or frescoes) is any of several related mural painting types,
executed on plaster on walls or ceilings
•Michaelangelo
Sistine Chapel
15th CE
Sfumato
•Monalisa by Leonardo da Vinci
•15th CE
•Leonardo da Vinci described sfumato as "without lines or borders, in the manner of
smoke or beyond the focus plane."
Chiaroscuro
•Chiaroscuro is characterized by strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold
contrasts affecting a whole composition
•Sacred and Profane Love. 1602–1603, showing dramatic compositional chiaroscuro by
•Giovanni Baglione
Impasto
•In English, the borrowed Italian word impasto most commonly refers to a technique
used in painting, where paint is laid on an area (or the entire canvas) in a very thick
manner using a brush,palette knife or directly the paint tube
•. Paint can also be mixed right on the canvas. When dry, impasto provides rich texture
"Crags and Crevices"(1961): Jane Frank
Vlaminck: Fauve Painter 1903
Modern Art Movements which gave tremendous importance to color
•Impressionism- Optical mixing
•Post Impressionism- Emotional and expressive quality of color explored
•Fauvism- Wild application of color
•Color Field Abstraction
Monet, Impression: Sunrise, 1872
Post Impressionism
•Paul Gauguin
•The yellow Christ
•Symbolic use of color
Vision after the sermon
Paul Gauguin
Fauvism
•Henri Matisse
•Early 20th CE
•Exploring the express
ive quality of color
Color Field Abstract Expressionism
Monochromatic
Mark Tansey, The Bricoleur’s Daughter, 1987
Michaelangelo
Sistine Chapel
detail (monochromatic medallion)