"Color is life, for a world without color seems dead. As a flame produces light, light produces color. As intonation lends color to the spoken word, color lends spiritually realized sound to form." --Johannes Itten, The Art of Color (1960)
Color is a property of light. At its most basic, It is the perception of how light is absorbed or reflected by matter. The two parts of light are luminosity and wavelength. Luminosity is the degree of brightness of light. Color is determined by a range of light waves, measured in wavelengths which are affected by different surfaces and media through refraction, reflection, diffraction, or interference. Each of these wavelengths form the visible spectrum, a rainbow sequence of hues: RED, ORANGE, YELLOW, GREEN, BLUE, INDIGO and VIOLET. It should be noted that white is the addition of all hues, and black is the subtraction of all hues. The wavelengths of the visible spectrum can be produced by passing a white light through a prism. The prism refracts the white light and splits it into the rainbow sequence of hues.
The 12-Hue Color Circle or The Itten Color Wheel
We begin with three primary colors: yellow, red and blue. Then, in order to arrive at the secondary colors, the primary colors are mixed thus:
yellow + red = orange
yellow + blue = green
red + blue = violet
One crucial thing to remember when arriving at the secondary colors, is that they cannot lean to their primary color sources, meaning that the green must not be too yellow or too blue, or that the orange cannot be too red or too yellow. They must be mixed thoroughly to achieve their secondary status on the color wheel. Now, in order to arrive at the tertiary colors, a mixing of the primary colors with the secondary colors follows this formula:
yellow + orange = yellow-orange
red + orange = red-orange
red + violet = red-violet
blue + violet = blue-violet
blue + green = blue-green
yellow + green = yellow-green
The three primary colors + the three secondary colors + the six tertiary colors, forms the 12-hue color circle. What we have, in essence, is an artificially-divided and measured model of the visible spectrum.
The 12-hue color wheel, sometimes referred to as the Itten Color Wheel, was a color model that was developed by Johannes Itten (1888 - 1967), an influential Swiss teacher, designer and painter who taught at the Bauhaus design school in Weimar, Dessau and Berlin.
Although there were previous color models and systems developed by the likes of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Sir Issac Newton (who first used the term spectrum, Latin for "appearance" or "apparition"), the Itten system creates a more balanced, symmetrical model. Although there are some problems regarding the equality of its steps, for our purposes the Itten model will do just fine.
The achievement of Itten was not only in physically organizing the visible spectrum in a balanced fashion, but more importantly in understanding the psychology of color. Although he worked to systematize color, he held a strong belief in its intuitive application by identifying the emotional associations we have with certain colors. In fact, it was Itten who we can credit with developing a seasonal analysis of colors, identifying four different and distinct personality types and associating them with the seasons, and then attributing color to those. When we think of whether a color is cool or warm, Itten steered our perceptions to such an identification.
The Seven Color Contrasts
The expression of color gains maximum effect through the use of contrast, or perception through comparison. Itten identified as what is known as the seven color contrasts:
1. Contrast of Hue
2. Light-Dark Contrast
3. Cold-Warm Contrast
4. Complimentary Contrast
5. Simultaneous Contrast
6. Contrast of Saturation
7. Contrast of Extension
Each of these will require an in-depth explanation and understanding, which we will explore throughout the semester.
General Notes on Painting:
-Paint your composition, with great care, precision and patience, taking care to fill in the areas of color completely.
-The image area should be opaque, not transparent, with no streaking and none of the illustration board showing through.
-Do not slop on the paint heavily, but distribute evenly and smoothly. If your painting is heavy-handed and lumpy with streaks, I will ask you to repaint your piece.
-Mix your colors thoroughly, before applying the paint to the board. Do not use too much water, as this will thin the paint out too much and make it transparent. Do not mix with your brush, but with a palette knife. If you mix color with your brush, your color will be streaked with unmixed color.
-If you are painting a straight line, consider using your drafting tape or a guide to help you-- No shaky or crooked lines on hard-edged projects. If you are using drafting tape, do not brush into the tape, as this will force paint under it, and cause excessive bleeding. Rather, paint along the edge of the tape.Also make sure the tape is not to tacky, so that it will not tear the surface of your board.
-Control of your brush is the key here. And you must use the correct brush size/bristle-type, per what was listed on your materials guide you received at the start of the semester.
Images (from top to bottom): Farbkreis (1961), by Johannes Itten; Color Wheel from Theory of Colours (1810), by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe; 7 Color and 12 Color Circles (1708), by Claude Boutet; Color circle with correlating musical notes and planetary symbols from Opticks (1704), by Sir Issac Newton; cover to The Art of Color: The Subjective Experience and Objective Rationale of Color (1961); Color Star, by Johannes itten
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