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Color:  Intensity

9/28/2015

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The term 'Intensity" refers to the brightness or dullness of a color.s

Color in its most intense form is found on the outside of the color wheel.  When other colors are mixed with it, they tend to 'gray' or 'neutralize'.  The further the addition is to the complementary color, the more it is dulled or neutralized.

One thing to be careful of is thinking that because a color is taken from a tube it will be in its most intense form. This isn't always the case.  Some tube colors are actually a combination of colors.   

A good exercise to find which of your colors are most intense is to take a sample of each tube of paint you own and place it on a color wheel you  make.  It will help you to see color as well as help you learn to handle your brush and the media.  Exercises will go a much longer way to your growth as an artist than simply painting a picture.  

So how do you use intensity in a painting?  Find the spot or area that you are most excited about - the point of interest.  This is what you are saying about the photograph that you are working with - you artist's statement:  "look at this!  How interesting this is"  This should be the most intense - some times even just a very small point of color will bring the viewer's eye to the spot.

When everything else in the painting is slightly to fully neutralized, that area will pop.  The more neutral the surrounding area is, the bigger the impact.

The question you will ask yourself as the artist is:  do I want to make this area really stand out or just slightly speak to the viewer?

A quick word about too much intensity:  You may wish to use all intense colors to make your statement.  In this case you will have to use composition to zero in on the point of interest.  And be sure you have a reason for high intensity beyond just liking the colors.


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Color:  Hue

9/21/2015

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Color has four properties.  We've discussed the first - value.
The others are Hue, Intensity, and Temperature.


We can use these properties to interpret or make a statement about the photograph that we are using.


Let's look at Hue.  This is the color name or its position on the spectrum - its wave length.  
This morning I was walking on a forested path.  Around me were trees and brush.  The flowers that were there earlier are now gone.  So, beyond the brown of the tree bark,  I saw a sea of green.  The forest's hue was green.   But that green was made up of many varying shades of green.


So if we are looking at a green area such as a lawn,  we can use color to cue the viewer to what we are saying.  For instance, we know that the length of that space is all the same green. That is the Local Color.   But, because of shade, light, distance and other factors, our eye interprets the lawn as differing shades of green.  In other words, the optical color.

You, as the artist, have the opportunity to alter the hues to make your statement.  To do that we'll be talking about optical light which uses temperature rather than local color.




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Using Photographs as Reference

9/14/2015

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Almost all of us take photographs to remember events or places that have meaning for us.  So how do we use those photographs?

We can simply enlarge and frame them.  We can use a photoshop approach to alter the original photograph, then enlarge and frame.  We might use them in photo books from online places such as Shutterfly.  

But what if we want to use them as reference for a painting?

First, we should ask ourselves, what is there about this photograph that inspires me to want to do a painting?  Why wouldn't I simply reproduce the photo?

I'm going to have you answer a few questions to get to the why.

1.  Where did I take this photograph?  Was the place meaningful or was something else in the picture that I found meaningful or interesting.

2.  What was I feeling at the time?  the Temperature?  Sadness or happiness? Awed by the beauty?  Something else?


3.  What, in particular was of the most interest to me, in the photograph?
Can I pinpoint the area that appealed to me?


Once we have established what the direction of your painting will be we can use tools at our disposal to share our observations with your viewer.
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