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See art in a fresh way. |
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Mini-Tutorial: Integration, Part 2: Color |
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| In the tutorial, Integration of Light, I mentioned that the theme of Counterpose is about a harmony of contrast. I showed how I painted extreme contrasts in light and dark. In this tutorial I am showing how, keeping to the theme of contrast, I painted extremes of color contrasts. |
 Counterpose, 1990, oil on linen, 36x42" |
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The main color theme is about
the contrast of her hot red hair and warm colors of her
body with the cool blues of the futon cover. Perhaps more important than that, and perhaps much more subtle, is the color contrast between the objects in the light and the objects in shadow. The set up started with a yellowish-orange incandescent light bulb, which gave the objects yellowish highlights.
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Here, in the areas circled
with blue, I am showing the violet and blue-violet shadows on her
body. Her foot is shaped with light and dark violets, yet her
foot is essentially bathed in shadow; it is not touched by the
direct yellow light. The contrast between violet shadows and yellow highlights is one of the most radical color contrasts possible. And yet, I believe, I have given them a natural-looking, harmonious glow. |
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To understand how color contrast works, a color wheel is indispensable. It is out of the scope of this tutorial to discuss how a color wheel is based upon natural visual phenomena; for the moment trust me on that. The classic contrasts are red and green, blue and orange, and yellow and violet. One reason they are considered opposites is that when you mix them you get a non-color; something neither gray nor brown. When you juxtapose contrasting colors they serve a bit like contrasting black and white, you get an intense burst of color vibration. If you put violet next to yellow, it pops and excites the eye. |
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Here I outlined a few of the highlights on the blue fabric. These highlights have a slight greenish tint to them because of the yellow light. If you add yellow light to blue cloth you get green.
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| As we get further away from the direct yellow light that is smacking green at the front the futon, the blue of the futon merges progressively with the violet color. |
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Whether it is a high contrast
of color in the light, or the color contrast of flesh, cloth,
background, and hair-in this painting, you will find an endless
kaleidoscope of pure color contrasts: blue vs. orange, yellow
vs. violet, and red vs. green. As simple as Counterpose may look, it's a very complex painting with many variations on the theme of harmony of contrasts. Next in the series on integration I will be discussing how her pose embellishes the theme.
Michael
Newberry |
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The original Counterpose and Giclee reproductions of Counterpose and Denouement are available. |
Online Tutorials|
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©2006 Newberry, All rights reserved. |