Sunday, January 17, 2016

The Basic Tenets Of Advanced Color Theory

By Ronald Howard


Painting is an exercise that involves more than the application of colors on a surface. It is an exercise where your inner perceptions and views are actualized in a picture or a surface. Advanced color theory enables you to appreciate and take advantage of qualities of the outer light that objectifies and gives form to matter. This is a different approach as opposed to the basic understanding when colors were defined in relation to either primary or secondary elements.

There is a new dimension of coloring that emerges with the appreciation of magenta and green. This dimension can be described as the inner feeling that makes them to appear more appealing or lovelier. A painter or color dealer who appreciates these aspects can produce magnificent images from simple or ordinary colors.

Colors were originally defined by the perceptions people obtained using naked eyes. This meant that there was little or no appreciation of the individual qualities that differentiates colors. Human perceptions were subjective and would therefore lead to glaring errors when the colors were applied on different surfaces. The perception is blind to saturation, hue, lightness and other elements that are distinct to light.

Hue is considered as the distinct characteristic that enables you to differentiate red from blue and yellow, among other colors. It is largely dependent on dormant wavelengths that are reflected from the object or emitted by its surface. The use of black and white on these colors yields tonal families that are basically different in lightness, saturation and hues.

Saturation can be described as value or lightness of colors which define its brightness. These elements or characteristics are in light of closeness to gray. Saturated colors are distant from gray while less saturated colors are those that are nearer to gray. The explanation is that gray dilutes the essence of individual colors.

There are elements of this advanced theory on colors that guide their use. Jumping colors and holes are cautions that should be observed by painters. A hole is a section that appears distant on a painting because of the colors used. A section that is jumping out emanates from a distant object that is painted using similar intensity or saturation as one on the foreground. Such use of colors affects the aesthetic appeal of your work.

Shadows are an intricate part of the theory. Every painting should depict the direction of light. Classic painters would draw their images and persons with shadows. This should be consistent throughout your work. While painters work from memory and perception, there must be semblance to the truth. Further, the highlights of shadows and light depend on the shape of the object. The shadows will further be shaped by the surface on which they fall.

There are optic illusions that affect the realistic perception of your image. These illusions trick the eyes into perceiving an object in the form which it does not appear. Pay close attention to these illusions if you intend to produce realistic work. The use of vertical running strips on a shorter person will make him to appear taller. This will either produce balance or make your work to appear unrealistic.




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