Core Concepts- Exercise 10: Understanding colour
Exercise 10: Understanding colour
Draw two grids of squares, filling one with colours that you like and the other with colours you dislike. Then put the two grids side by side and ask the question ‘which one looks better?’
Try and find different combinations of two colours to illustrate each of these ideas: Angry, Brave, Creative, Dangerous, Energetic, Familiar, Gregarious, Hopeful, Independent, Jumpy, Kinetic, Luxurious, Masculine, New, Open, Precious, Quiet, Reasonable, Sociable, Tasteful, Unhappy, Vital, Wonderful, Extra special, Youthful, Zany
I was looking forward to this task because I am familiar with Itten’s work, and have many favourites of his, especially his early black/white lithography. I decided to research Johannes Itten before beginning this exercise.
A brief but interesting overview of Itten via artnet was where I started. I was particularly interested in his varied style of work, from a looser more abstract style of drawing in black and white compared to his more graphic style coloured paintings. Learning that his background was more formal in education as he was trained as a school teacher may be a reason for his varied approach to his work. He moved to Vienna in 1916 to open a private art school, and in 1919 Walter Gropius invited him to become a member of the Bauhaus.
“Itten started the Bauhaus foundations course with its emphasis on unusual uses of common materials. Students were presented with discarded materials (wire mesh, cardboard, newspapers, matchboxes, phonograph needles and razor blades) and instructed to basteln; to improvise something. Other assignments involved the study of materials. Wood, feathers, mosses, hides had to be looked at, touched and drawn until they were known by heart and could be from memory. The idea was to transcend realistic reproduction to achieve an interpretative design instead of a mere imitation.”-Froebel Web This article continues to discuss about Itten’s interesting life as an artist and educator, including being forced to close his own school due to the Nazi regime in 1934.
“Johannes Itten wrote several books regarding theories of color. The most influencial was The Art of Color. The book deals with contrast, saturation and hue. Itten bases his theory on science and techniques of the masters. He created color wheels, stars, triangles and spheres to support his points. The color wheel was later incorporated into many systems including computer operating systems, in which it orgainizes color.
Itten established a structural approach to the study and use of color based primarily on the light-dark opposition. The cold-warm contrast is probably the most important. The red-yellow color range is warm and the blue-green range is cool. Itten also cites complementary and simultaneous contrasts.”
The colour wheel is common to everybody and is shown when you are young to understand colour. It was first ‘discovered’ by Sir Isaac Newton. “The renown mathematician Sir Isaac Newton invented the first color wheel. While studying white light reflecting off prisms, he noticed that the light reflected a spectrum of colors. Noting down the different hues, he believed the rainbow of colors shared a harmonious relationship. Following that train of thought, he compared the hues to music to discover the harmonious relationship between each hue. He identified each hue with a corresponding musical note. The then arranged those musical notes into a square, and then finally placed the colors on a rotating disk to see how they interact with each other visually. And that’s the story of the ideation behind the first color wheel.”-Print Mag
When creating my grids of colours I liked and didn’t like I scrolled through the pantone list of colours on Photoshop and chose colours at random, either ones that I liked or disliked, without any deeper thought. I prefer muted colours, generally the art I like is variations of black, white, grey and a nude colour, with small elements of colour thrown in. I am unsure why I am attracted to these types of colours, I am drawn to these more than others, but it is probably exaggerated as the art I surround myself with is of this ‘colour scheme.’
Like
Dislike
I decided to do some more research into colour theory and found a good website called ‘colour matters.’ The article discusses the basics of colour theory, but also presents how colours behave when placed with black/white compared to other colours. This is something I found very interesting as visually there are many things I find appealing and now understand why a bit more.
When beginning this task I decided to stick to choosing from the Pantone colours in Photoshop to slightly limit the colours I can choose from, and so they can be easily referred to again. I aimed to not overthink which colours presented which emotion/word, and if they would look visually appealing, but rather choose them based off my initial thoughts.
Anger:
Definition: feeling or showing strong annoyance, displeasure, or hostility; full of anger.
"an angry customer"
I feel like anger is commonly presented as red or orange. Someones face turns red when angry, or burning anger like fire. I decided to see what the 2 colours appeared like together. I stuck to using the pantone colour palettes in Photoshop to slightly limit my range/tones of colours.
The 2 colours are analogous so therefore are still visually appealing even when put next to each other.
Brave:
Definition: Ready to face and endure danger or pain; showing courage.
"a brave soldier"
I immediately thought of a blue and purple to represent brave. Blue possibly because it can be associated with a more positive feeling, and purple because the word brave made me thought of the ‘purple heart’ award given to soliders in America.
The colours are analogous and work well together but to me personally I don’t find them appealing together because they are so similar.
Creative:
Definition: relating to or involving the use of the imagination or original ideas to create something.
"change unleashes people's creative energy"
I thought that a brighter yellow and black could be used to represent ‘creative.’ Yellow represents brightness and looking into something positively, where as the black could be drawing from darker experiences or concepts to create something new.
I really like these 2 colours together, the black makes the yellow ‘pop’ even more, this is the strongest colour combination so far. I think it would look more visually appealing if the black was the ‘main’ colour though, but I decided to keep it in order of thought to test with.
Dangerous:
Definition: able or likely to cause harm or injury.
"a dangerous animal"
I thought of a ‘stop’ sign when thinking of danger, meaning red and white. I feel like these 2 colours’ meaning together is unanimous and is seen together a lot, but still it is interesting to test using Itten’s method.
The final out come of this didn’t seem to present ‘danger’ to me, it sort of looks calm and reminds me of Christmas. It is interesting how placing 2 colours together in this way can change preconceived ideas.
Energetic:
Definition: showing or involving great activity or vitality.
"moderately energetic exercise"
I wanted to present energetic through bright strong colours. To be energetic you are considered to be ‘full of life’ or ‘quick’ and these things I feel are presented well through bright colours. Yellow is usually associated with energy, a lightning bolt or lightbulb would be drawn using yellow when you’re younger for example. Green is the other colour I associate with ‘energy’ as it represents battery power or strength.
These 2 colours are analogous but to me I don’t think they look visually appealing next to each other, but I do think they represent energy well.
Familiar:
Definition: well known from long or close association.
"their faces will be familiar to many of you"
Immediately when thinking of familiar blue and white comes to mind. Whether this is an overall ‘mood’ that this colour represents or if it’s because of the colours of something I see everyday (the sky) I’m not sure. The overall feel of these colours is ‘familiar’ and they work well together, the white makes the blue stand out well.
Gregarious:
Definition: (of a person) fond of company; sociable.
"he was a popular and gregarious man"
This one took the most ‘thought’ so far as something immediate didn’t come into mind. To be sociable you must be quite positive and enjoy company of others, green represents positivity, and a darker green for the ‘deeper’ social connections someone who is gregarious may make. Orange is quite a positive colour and could imply energy, something someone who is gregarious would have.
The end result is interesting. I feel that it would be more visually appealing if the orange was a different hue, but I felt like it should be more vibrant to contrast with the green even more.
Hopeful:
Definition: feeling or inspiring optimism about a future event.
"a hopeful sign"
Hopeful to me is yellow and blue. Yellow being positive and ‘looking forwards’ and the blue being a more neutral feeling being the current state of mind.
I went for a less bright, more neutral hue of each colour to show the ‘in between’ feelings, meaning feeling a certain way, but ‘hoping’ to feel another. Neither colour is brighter than the other to further imply this feeling.
Independent:
Definition: free from outside control; not subject to another's authority.
"an independent nuclear deterrent"
Independent to me is a positive thing, whether that being independent in your work, or thinking it’s all a step forwards. Green is the first colour that comes to mind, which gives a positive feeling. White is another colour I think represents it well, the white represents the ‘normal’ route to something and the green being an ‘independent’ way.
I decided on a brighter green to exaggerate the positive feelings I wanted this one to portray.
Jumpy:
Definition: (of a person) anxious and uneasy.
"he was tired and jumpy"
‘Jumpy’ to me means up and down, so I feel like I should go for 2 contrasting colours. Blue and orange comes to mind because blue can be seen as a more sad colour, and the orange representing the energy in the ‘jumpy’ feeling.
I quite like the end result of this test, I think that is because the contrasting colours work well together. I decided on the orange to have a brighter tone to make the difference between the up and down more obvious.
Kinetic:
Definition: relating to or resulting from motion.
(of a work of art) depending on movement for its effect.
I felt like Kinetic could be displayed through 2 tones of red. The word kinetic makes me think of energy and movement and red is a colour that I feel represents this movement. The choice of 2 tones rather than 2 colours is to show something moving rather than changing, to me this shows it well.
Luxurious:
Definition: extremely comfortable or elegant, especially when involving great expense.
"the island's most luxurious hotel"
Luxurious to me means expensive, this made me think of gold and silver, 2 expensive and luxury metals.
The pantone gold is more of a dark yellow and the silver a grey. Despite this I feel like the colours look interesting together, the grey allows the gold to ‘pop.’
Masculine:
Definition: having qualities or appearance traditionally associated with men.
"he is outstandingly handsome and robust, very masculine"
To me the stereotypical masculine colours of blue came to mind. I am unsure why this colour represents masculinity or male qualities, I suppose that’s what makes this test more interesting to me. I like the different hues of blue, the lighter against the darker creates a good harmony.
New:
Definition: produced, introduced, or discovered recently or now for the first time; not existing before.
"the new Madonna album"
I feel like green represents ‘new.’ Green is a natural colour, of grass, trees which represent new life. White to me also represents ‘new’ it is a blank page, a fresh start. I feel like the 2 colours work well together. The white makes the green appear stronger making this one in my opinion quite a good representation of ‘new.’ This turned out to be the opposite of my colours chosen for independence, this is very interesting as they were created days apart and it wasn’t thought about. Perhaps this shows how ‘new’ to me is a positive word, as I described ‘independence.’
Open:
Definition: allowing access, passage, or a view through an empty space; not closed or blocked.
"he climbed through the open window"
Open to me is grey. I feel like ‘open’ is a ‘grey space’ between something or an idea, it is also freedom. The idea of empty space is also blue, I feel like this is because I see the sky as the largest empty space, and blue is the colour of the sky. I don’t like the aesthetic of these colours together, but do feel like it portrays my sense ‘open.’
Precious:
Definition: of great value; not to be wasted or treated carelessly.
"precious works of art"
I felt like precious was something important or something you have an emotional attachment to. I decided on a red and green. The red being an emotional colour representing the ‘love’ for something precious, and green being a positive and brighter colour. These 2 work well together because they are complementary colours.
Quiet:
Definition: making little or no noise.
"the car has a quiet, economical engine"
This word required more thought than others, what is a quiet colour? Brighter? Darker? I decided to go with a white and grey. White being silence, and the grey being a slight ‘noise’ within the test. I decided on these 2 rather than other colours because I feel they are the quietest, always there but less obvious.
Reasonable:
Definition: having sound judgement; fair and sensible.
"no reasonable person could have objected"
Again this word took more thought. I decided on a blue to show calmness, the more ‘reasonable’ judgement, with a yellow, being a complementary colour and a contrast to the blue. This represents the other side of reason, being unfair or ‘unreasonable.’ I went for a strong blue and yellow to exaggerate the colours and differences that make up reason.
Sociable:
Definition: willing to talk and engage in activities with other people; friendly.
"being a sociable person, Eva loved entertaining"
I immediately thought of orange to represent being sociable. Orange is a bright and positive colour, and to be sociable I feel you must have these traits. I then decided on a lighter blue as to me it’s the colour of the sky and the sky represents being outdoors and sociable.
Tasteful:
Definition: showing good aesthetic judgement or appropriate behaviour.
"a tasteful lounge bar"
For ‘tasteful’ I went with colours I liked as they are tasteful to me, and therefore represent this word. I chose 2 ‘random’ colours I found tasteful and placed them together. I don’t feel like they work together aesthetically, but it is an interesting test to use to decide which colours work and which don’t.
Unhappy:
Definition: not happy.
"an unhappy marriage"
Unhappy to me is greys. A darker and a lighter grey to show the variations in ‘unhappiness’ darker being more unhappy and lighter being ‘happier.’ I really like the outcome of this test, visually it looks good. I feel like it is a good representation for my definition of ‘unhappy.’
Vital:
Definition: absolutely necessary; essential.
"secrecy is of vital importance"
I was unsure initially as to which colours represent ‘vital’ the best. I decided on a purple and green. Purple is quite an important colour and is associated with things like the royal family etc, which is why I feel it represents ‘vital’ well. The green is also a positive colour, and the colour of nature which is ‘vital’ to life.
Wonderful:
Definition: inspiring delight, pleasure, or admiration; extremely good; marvellous.
"they all think she's wonderful"
Wonderful is a positive word, therefore should be represented by a positive colour. I decided on yellow because it is bright and uplifting, and is used to show good things. Orange is also a positive colour and shows ‘delight’ making it a good colour for ‘wonderful.’ The outcome visually I feel isn’t very strong, despite the colours being analogous.
Extra special:
Definition: particularly good or significant.
"today's celebrations are extra special as they mark the centennial"
This phrase took longer to decide which colours best represent it. I decided on red and green. The red portrays love and importance of the event, and the green is a positive colour showing how special the event is. I went for a lighter green to exaggerate this.
Youthful:
Definition: young or seeming young.
"people aspiring to remain youthful"
To me orange represents youth, it is a brighter colour and shows energy. I decided to pair it with white because white is like a blank canvas and the beginning of something, when you are youthful you are younger or act younger and are more free to do as you please, which the white canvas allows.
Zany:
Definition: amusingly unconventional and idiosyncratic.
"his zany humour"
I always felt like zany was a more negative way to describe somebody, if someone is being zany they are being stupid or trying to be funny. I thought pink and yellow represent this well. The pink is quite an out there colour and if somebody is being zany they may be being loud etc so this suits it quite well. The yellow is quite an energetic colour, and also doesn’t work well with pink visually. I intended for this test to look more ‘out there’ then aesthetically pleasing.
I found this task and researching about Johannes Itten very interesting. I enjoyed testing different colours together to try and convey the meaning of the words. I found that it was sometimes the colours that I thought wouldn’t ‘work,’ did. The use of colour, what works/doesn’t and how to portray the meaning I intend is a massive part of creating an effective visual, and this task has helped me explore colour and its uses.
