The Science of Art:

How Artists Use

COLOR

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Primary Colors

• Primary colors include red, yellow, and blue.

• They can be mixed to create all colors of the rainbow.

• They are the foundation of the color wheel.

• Dance at Bougival, by Renior

Source: http:// www.art.com

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Secondary Colors

• Secondary colors include orange, green, and violet (purple).

• They can be created by mixing the primary colors.

• They are also located on the color wheel.

• Improvisation 31, by Kandinsky

Source: www.nga.gov/kids/kandinsky/kandinsky1.html

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The Color Wheel

• The primary colors are red, yellow, and blue.

• The secondary colors are orange green, and violet (purple).

• Starting at the top and moving clockwise, the colors in order are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet (purple)-the same as the visible light spectrum.

• (ROY G. BV)

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Complementary Colors

• Complementary colors are pairs of colors that are located opposite from one another on the color wheel.

• Red and green

• Yellow and violet (purple)

• Blue and orange

• They appear to vibrate when placed side by side.

• Homage to Bleriot, by Robert Delaunay

Source: http://www.abstract-art.com/abstraction/l2_Grnfthrs_fldr/g024_delaunay_hmge2bleriot.html

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How is this useful in art?

• Artists can make use of the science of color.

• Physically mixing colors may dull them.

• Colors placed side by side may allow our eyes to mix them (optical mixing), especially from a distance.

• Street, Dresden, by Kirchner

Source: http://www.moma.org/collection/depts/paint_sculpt/blowups/paint_sculpt_008.html

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Pointillism

• Pointillism is a technique of painting in which many tiny dots (or points) are combined to form a picture.

• These dots may be as small as 1/16 of an inch in diameter.

• When 2 complementary colors are placed side by side, each will appear more vibrant and intense than if viewed separately.

• Hafen von St. Tropez, by Signac

Source: http://www.postershop.com

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Georges Seurat

• Seurat was an artist who used pointillism.

• An example of his work is A Sunday on la Grande Jatte.

• It took him 2 years to complete this painting.

• It is estimated to contain about 3,456,000 dots! Source: http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/eurptg/28pc_seurat.html

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Sources of Information

• http://www.geocities.com/bvijay/paints/Seurat.html

• How to Teach Art to Children, by Joy Evans and Jo Ellen Moore

• “Monet, Renior, and the Impressionist Landscape,” Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

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Sources for Works of Art

• Slide 2, Dance at Bougival, by Renior (www.art.com)

• Slide 3, Improvisation 31, by Kandinsky (www.nga.gov/kids/kandinsky/kandinsky1.html)

• Slide 5, Charing Cross Bridge, by Derain (http://btr0xw.rz.uni-bayreuth.de/cjackson/derain/p-derain1.htm)

• Slide 6, Street, Dresden, by Kirchner (http://www.moma.org/collection/depts/paint_sculpt/blowups/paint_sculpt_008.html)

• Slide 7, Hafen von St. Tropez, by Signac (www.postershop.com)

• Slide 8, A Sunday on la Grande Jatte, by Seurat (www.artic.edu/aic/collections/eurptg/28pc_seurat.html)