Coral's Art History Blog: The Power of Color #2

I think people tend to underestimate color and it’s power. Without light there would be no color, all colors depend on light, with the exception of black, which is the absence of light. When light hits a blue object the object absorbs every color except blue, so light striking an object then reflects back to your eye as blue. Color adds more life and depth to a piece of art. It can create a specific feeling of warmth, happiness, coldness or chaos to the viewer.

It’s strange to think that the colors red, yellow and blue which the are primary colors, can not be made by mixing other colors, but they can mix to make all the other colors such as green, orange and violet, which are the secondary colors. Contrasting colors can cause a great effect and can help pop the subject or make it more noticeable. For example, in Van Gogh’s painting Crown Imperial Fritillaries he uses contrasting colors, which are complementary colors on the color wheel, basically that means they are the complete opposite of each other. If you put a green next to a blue it wont pop because they are made up of similar colors, but if you put blue with orange they would noticeably stand out from each other because they are both unique. Another effect color creates is using cool colors such as blue green or violet in a painting. They cause a cool feeling, probably because they remind us of water or sky. In Van Gogh’s painting Irises at St. Remy his main use of blue and green makes you feel calmness and cool, with a slight use of warm colors such as yellow red and orange on the ground and bushes. Another interesting color technique is called pointillism, which is made by tinny different colored dots clustered next to eachother without actually mixing them. An example of this style would be Paul Signac’s painting La Calcanque, you can see up closely all the different colors on the boat and on the trees but, if you step back and squint your eyes tend to mix them together automatically, but the more color the more depth and uniqueness there is to the painting.