Hello everybody!!

The hollidays are over and another course begins. In this blog you will find all that you need to follow the course and other items that you may find interesting. If you need some help do not hesitate to ask me.

Are you ready?

1.COLOUR THEORY

Basic Color Theory

Color theory encompasses a multitude of definitions, concepts and design applications - enough to fill several encyclopedias. However, there are three basic categories of color theory that are logical and useful : The color wheel, color harmony, and the context of how colors are used.

Color theories create a logical structure for color. For example, if we have an assortment of fruits and vegetables, we can organize them by color and place them on a circle that shows the colors in relation to each other.

The Color Wheel

A color circle, based on magenta, yellow and cian, is traditional in the field of art. Sir Isaac Newton developed the first circular diagram of colors in 1666. Since then, scientists and artists have studied and designed numerous variations of this concept. Differences of opinion about the validity of one format over another continue to provoke debate. In reality, any color circle or color wheel which presents a logically arranged sequence of pure hues has merit.

So, the color circle is one way of organizing colors.

An artist, Johanes Itten  (Bauhaus member), did some diferent works about how to organize colors from the color circle:

So, now you know there are two diferent system to organize colours:


Color Systems

1.Subtractive Color.

When we mix colors using paint, or through the printing process, we are using the subtractive color method. Subtractive color mixing means that one begins with white and ends with black; as one adds color, the result gets darker and tends to black.  In substractive color mixing the primary colors are cyan, magenta and yellow.

 

2.Additive Color.

If we are working on a computer, the colors we see on the screen are created with light using the additive color method. Additive color mixing begins with black and ends with white; as more color is added, the result is lighter and tends to white.

In additive color mixing the primary colors are red, yellow and blue.

So, the definition of primary color, really depends on what type of medium of color we are using.The primary colors for the subtractive color system (paint/pigment) are "cyan, magenta and yellow." Notice that "red, yellow and blue" should never be used as the combination for color primaries!The colors light in a substractive system are  "red, green, and blue-violet" which are the primary colors for the additive color system (light). 

 A primary color is a color that cannot be made from a combination of any other colors.

 Have a look, please, the next video, and answer the question :
 This song is about three primary colors, but subtractive or additive primaries?

Secondary color is a color created from a combination of two primary colors, green, orange and purple.

Tertiary colorThese are the colors formed by mixing a primary and a secondary color. That's why the hue is a two word name, such as blue-green, red-violet, and yellow-orange.
is a combination of three colors (primary or secondary). 

Color Context

How color behaves in relation to other colors and shapes is a complex area of color theory. Compare the contrast effects of different color backgrounds for the same red squar

Red appears more brilliant against a black background and somewhat duller against the white background. In contrast with orange, the red appears lifeless; in contrast with blue-green, it exhibits brilliance. Notice that the red square appears larger on black than on other background colors.

Different readings of the same color:

 If your computer has sufficient color stability and gamma correction you will see that the small purple rectangle on the left appears to have a red-purple tinge when compared to the small purple rectangle on the right. They are both the same color as seen in the illustration below. This demonstrates how three colors can be perceived as four colors.

 

Observing the effects colors have on each other is the starting point for understanding the relativity of color. The relationship of values, saturations and the warmth or coolness of respective hues can cause noticeable differences in our perception of colour

 The variability of the color  

  Hue is somewhat synonymous to what we usually refer to as "colors". Red, green, blue, yellow, and orange are a few examples of different hues. The different hues have different wavelenghts in the spectrum.

  Saturation can also be called a color's intensity. It is a measurement of how different from pure grey the color is. Saturation is not really a matter of light and dark, but rather how pale or strong the colour is. The saturation of a color is not constant, but it varies depending on the surroundings and what light the color is seen in. 

Complementary colours

Complementary colors are any two colors which are directly opposite each other, such as red and green and red-purple and yellow-green. In the illustration above, there are several variations of yellow-green in the leaves and several variations of red-purple in the orchid. These opposing colors create maximum contrast and maximum stability.

The color temperature

 

 Generally, reds, oranges and yellows are considered "warm" colors, and blues, green purples are said to be "cool" colors.

Color theory

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Here you can see some pictures where color is the most important element:

Rothko

J. Albers

Matisse

Mondrian

Guinovart

ACTIVITIES


The variability of the color.

1.Divide an A3 sheet transversaly in three equal parts and insert in each of the parts an square.

 Then, paint with the same grey value the squares inside and with different grey saturation the parts outside. 

Make mixes of colors from primary colors.

2-Draw 3 rectangles lines like these below:

 Make the mixes taking two primary colors each time. Make the gradation correctly, so the secondary is in the centre and the primary, of course, in both ends of the row.

3.Draw two rectangles lines like the last exercice.


Choose a primary color and paint with maximum saturation one end of the row.
Make mixes with black or white in order to progresively loose saturation.

 Well,  you have learnt and practised the Colour Theory, now it's time for a little game....


COLOURS GAME

Why We Should Draw More (and Photograph Less)

This is a very interesting video about drawing.
Please  take your time and have a look at it!!
Enjoy it!

1.Texture as a basic element of the composition

Texture is one of the features that personalize the plane, as do the colour, shape and size. Texture is the tactile quality of the objects. For example, the feel and the texture of the skin of a tomato is very different from that of a rough wall. 

If we look  at a photograph of the surface of a tomato and another of the rough surface of a wall, we can visually perceive different textures . Therefore, the tactile quality of the object, its texture, can also be represented by graphic means. Graphic textures can be achieved manually and by technical means.

Using plots of points and lines can also provide tactile qualities to the paper.
An easy way to texturing a paper sheet manually  is to put it on a surface and rub it with a pencil (frottage). 

There are artists such as Antoni Tàpies who give  great importance to the tactile qualities of the materials used in their  pieces. A stroke in one of his work is not only a shape, it is a material form, which has touch, texture. Tàpies uses a great variety of materials: matte and gloss paints, varnishes, sand, fabric, wood, paper, etc.

 There is, however, the work of the artists who developed the Cubist style, whose work is based on the working of the textures when reinterpreting the shape of objects that they represent. We will see examples of Cubist works by Picasso, Juan Gris, Duchamp,Hannah Höch etc.

 A typical Cubist painting depicts real people, places or objects, but not from a fixed viewpoint. Instead it will show you many parts of the subject at one time, viewed from different angles, and reconstructed into a composition of planes, forms and colours. The whole idea of space is reconfigured: the front, back and sides of the subject become interchangeable elements in the design of the work.

What is Collage?  

is a technique of an art production, primarily used in the visual arts, where the artwork is made from an assemblages of different forms, thus creating a new whole.

A collage may sometimes include  magazine and newspaper clipping, ribbons, paint , bits of colored or handmade papers, portions of other artwork or texts, photographs and other found objects, glued to a piece of paper or canvas. The origins of collage can be traced back hundreds of years, but this technique made a dramatic reappearance in the early 20th century as an art form of novelty.

Cubists are the inventors of this term.

Collage

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Below you can see some examples from Picasso. All of them are guitars and violins:

ACTIVITIES

1-Now you will build your guitar or violin in Picasso's style (collage in cubism style). 

You will need diferent materials like, sponges, baizes, aluminium foil, carton, newspapers, strings,

cardboard etc. Make a composition on a DinA3 sheet and when you are sure, paste it.

Is very important to use an homogeneous background. 

2- Making a Picasso style face portrait.

First of all, look the images below:

Take four or five photographs of your face from diferent angles (the profile,the  frontside...) . Thenprint them in black and white (no need to be quality images) and compose a new face with cuttings from the photographs in a Din A3 sheet. Paste it.

3- Now it's time to play a game:

CUBISM PORTRAIT


COLLAGE MACHINE