The fifth and final session of the Color Relationships class for Spring 2016 was held on Wednesday, May 4. The class shared the results of their last assignment, heard from guest artist Valérie about her color explorations, and watched a video that demonstrated how color, pattern, and viewing distance are all important considerations when creating a work of art. See the full post for class materials, photos, and final assignments.
The fourth session of the Color Relationships class for Spring 2016 was held on Wednesday, April 27. We critiqued the color transposition assignment, discussed the two ways to create luminosity in artwork, and enjoyed a watercolor demonstration that showed the effects of equal values, vanishing boundaries and halation. See the full post for class materials, photos, and videos to supplement our class time.
The third session of the Color Relationships class for Spring 2016 was held on Wednesday, April 20. We shared the results from the previous two homework assignments, discussed and critiqued the many examples in Josef Albers’ book Interaction of Color, and introduced the new assignment, Transposing Colors of Equal Value. This is by far the most difficult exercise in the course, and usually involves many hours of trial and error. See the full post for class materials, photos, and videos to supplement our class time.
The fifth session of the Color Relationships 1 class for Summer 2015 was held on Tuesday, August 25th. Our last session for the Color 1 series was a visual delight, from viewing the range of materials and various interpretations of the homework, to our guest speaker Valérie sharing her recent watercolor explorations. We heard a philosophical take on Dick’s theory of teaching and the shared contract of the responsibility for in student/teacher relationship, discussed the value of experimentation, and wrapped up with a delicious “graduation” potluck lunch and an hour of socializing.
The fourth session of the Color Relationships 1 class for Summer 2015 was held on Tuesday, August 18th. We critiqued the transposition examples seen in Albers’ book, reviewed the homework submissions, enjoyed a poetry reading, and heard from Kit Gentry about the incredible use of value as it is employed in his paintings. We moved on to our last assignment (an exercise in freedom!), and Dick talked about considering how we might put these color concepts to use in the future.
The third session of the Color Relationships 1 class for Summer 2015 was held on Tuesday, August 11th. We heard from participants about their latest experiences with color, critiqued the last two assignments, and moved on to explore a new facet of color interaction: equal value. This was a favored trick of the Impressionist painters, and when properly utilized can manifest the most beautiful and luminous fields of color. But matching value is much more challenging than it seems! It is truly the mark of a skilled colorist, one who can control their value selection as much as their choice of hues.
The fifth session of the Color Relationships class for Fall 2014 was held on Friday, November 7. We tried to find Color-Aid swatches of equal value; discussed real-world observations of luminosity through equal value in an autumn forest scene with Kit Gentry; critiqued the warm-cool color transposition exercises and free color studies; and had a demonstration of creating luminosity in watercolors. This was the final session of the course so there was no new homework assignment. A six-week follow-on class will be offered beginning in January, covering the visual phenomena of films, veils, volume color, white light, and colored light.
The fourth session of the Color Relationships class for Fall 2014 was held on Friday, October 31. We critiqued the third color deception assignment, making four colors appear as three. Gabe Mott visited and gave a preview of his Huedoku app, a game based on color matrices as developed by Dick. We practiced recognizing when two hues are of equal value, and saw examples of a special case, vanishing boundaries, which the Impressionists exploited to give their paintings striking luminosity. The new assignment is to transpose a set of four warm colors to a set of cool colors of equal value, in a specific format developed by Josef Albers.