A world without color?

My grandfather had one of the first color T.V.s in Federalsburg, Maryland. It was in the upstairs parlor across from the big upright piano.

The overstuffed sofa and Grandpop’s huge leather chair sat in front of the television. The parlor was almost like sitting in a movie theatre.

Every Sunday Night we’d go to grandmom and grandpops for dinner. Then we’d all traipse up the stairs to the parlor to watch the Ed Sullivan show.

There was something magical watching the color images dance across that tiny screen.

Remember when The Wizard of Oz came out? The movie starts out in black and white. When Dorothy emerges from the little house into the Land of Oz, everything changes to color. It was the first color movie which was a commercial success. It was a magical moment for every moviegoer.

One of the elements of a masterpiece is the ability to make an emotional connection with your viewer. Few things affect our emotions more than color.

Can you even imagine a world without color?

Color makes objects easier to see. But it’s more than that, isn’t it?

Colored objects are more interesting than ones devoid of color. Our eye will remain longer on a colored object than a colorless one.

Color makes objects somehow more familiar and inviting. Objects with no color seem cold and distant.

Colors themselves have become associated with certain feelings and ideas throughout the ages.

Look at the color wheel, for example. Notice that the colors on the left side of the wheel are considered “warm.” Colors on the right are “cool.”

That may be because we associate the reds and oranges with fire. We associate the blues and greens with ice.

We know that warmer colors advance in a painting – that is they appear to be closer to the viewer than cool colors. Usually cooler colors serve as backdrops to the more vibrant warm colors.

We also know that certain colors compliment each other. One of our subscribers suggests that there are paints that like to marry.

Some colors look better side by side than others. Some colors clash creating a sense of uneasiness even to the point of agitating our viewer. This is not the way to create an emotional connection.

The anatomy of the human eye has a great deal to do with how we perceive color and respond to it. That’s why Leonardo da Vinci was so interested in the human body. Da Vinci studied the human eye.

I am always amazed how much the Old Masters understood about light and color. They studied refraction and reflection. They were very aware of the human ability to perceive the world around them.

Bill understood this more than most. You can see it in his paintings – particularly his early work. Bill was an ardent student of light and shadow. We uncovered many of Bill’s paintings before he became a celebrity. It was evident examining them that he was experimenting with the effect of light.

Our “Yellow, Red, and Blue” Art Course is an introduction to color and color mixing. Some of our students are already finding out how challenging it can be to mix colors. Mix them we must, though, if we are to create that emotional connection with our viewer.

Learn more about Bill’s “Yellow, Red, and Blue” Art Course at this link.