Can you isolate a color from your memory or your culture or art history?
Just the word Blues triggers an association in your mind. “Feelin’ blue”–you hear the music in your head.
Our culture and history are loaded (and weighed down) with the symbolism of certain colors. In 15th century France red was the color of power, as in for the king; green was the color of love; blue was for the Virgin Mary. But in Renaissance Italy Mary is often shown wearing blue and red. Symbolism falls apart easily when you stop to look and think about it even a little bit.
Consider the colors in flags, like the popular red and blue. Any given country will have historic and symbolic explanations for the color of the stripes in its flag. Same color, different symbols for different flags.
I’ve read that blue is the most widely loved color throughout the world. No symbols necessary.
But here’s the thing. Any attempt to pin a color down to meaning, symbolism or cultural propriety has to fail. The reason for this is simple: color does not exist by itself, in isolation. Any color will always be seen next to another color, i.e. in the context of another color.
Back to the hue called blue. There are many variations of blue.
Does the blue at the top of this post remind you of uniforms? Official orders? The proper way to do things here? The energetic brushwork we saw in the red version of this painting, the original painting by Keven Wilder, seems to get dampened by this cold, military blue. Doesn’t it? I can’t be sure. Color is subjective.
If you mix ultramarine blue with a little alizarin crimson, you get a purplish blue, but still blue, a so-called warm blue:
If you mix cerulean blue, which is already cool…
with a bit of yellow, you’ll get a very cool, even greenish, blue, but still blue. Like this:
After that, things get more complicated depending on what wall color you hang your blue painting or whether the painting next to it will have red, yellow or orange in it, for example.
We’ve looked at this before. https://artamaze.wordpress.com/?s=albers
The groundbreaking authority on the relativity of color is Josef Albers. For an eye popping introduction, go to: https://www.google.com/search?q=josef+albers&tbm=isch&source=hp&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjw48eBpMbgAhUHTawKHbmvDdEQiR56BAgEEBU&biw=1222&bih=815
Josef Albers is an essential teacher and companion in any study of color. Keep his little book Homage to the Square at your side. He won’t simplify anything for you. On the contrary, he will show you how infinite and subtle the perception of color is. It may drive you a little crazy. Ahhhh! Color!
https://artamaze.wordpress.com/2019/02/18/black/
https://artamaze.wordpress.com/2019/02/12/red-and-rational/
All contents copyright (C) 2010 Katherine Hilden. All rights reserved.
http://www.katherinehilden.com
artamaze by Katherine Hilden 