Color Theory

Fall is here with a mix of winter here and there.  Are you living in a place where winter has started before you even had your thanksgiving turkey?  Here in Kansas we had a random week of snow and now we are back to cool crisp fall air.

As we paint or create our artwork we tend to use certain colors to convey a mood or intention.  With proper knowledge of color theory those intentions become easier to illustrate.  Violets and yellows, reds and greens, and blue and oranges are as most know complimentary colors.  But use of them together in your work shows your understanding of color theory.  

I have a way for you to study color at home.  Start with one color.  I'll use a blue for my explanation, Cerulean.  Paint it on a piece of paper.  Now cut it into 2  1"x1" squares.   Set aside.  Now mix your cerulean with a little bit of green.  Paint onto a piece of paper.  Cut that now into a 4"x4" square.  Now mix some more of that cerulean with more blue.  Paint onto a piece of paper.  Cut that into a 4"x4" square.  Paste the two 4"x4" squares side by side.  Paste one of the 1"x1" squares on the blue cerulean and one on the green cerulean.  Step back and look at what you have done. 

See how the same color, cerulean, looks totally different with the two different cerulean's?  You have just done a study in color theory!  When you study the effects of a color on it's surroundings it can help you understand your artwork better and maybe even improve it that much more.  So many artists have no to little understanding of color theory and it shows in their work.  If you are going to use color, why not understand it as much as you can.  

So go out and look at the weather you are experiencing and you might just see nature's knowledge of color theory.   Or your understanding of nature's use of colors and how we developed color theory by it's example.