Expressive, Emotional Color. In other words: Psychological Color; color used to appeal to your senses, your psyche; to provoke a psychological reaction.

Expressive, Emotional

Color

Expressive, Emotional Color

In other words: Psychological Color; color used to appeal to your senses, your psyche; to provoke a psychological reaction or emotion

Main Aspects to look for in an artwork:

• Format: the size/scale & materials used to create the work

• Subject Matter: the main person or object being represented

Example: figure, landscape, line or shape

• Relationship between forms & space: figure-ground,

dynamic between elements such as color, line, shape, texture, value

• Content: the main theme or underlying statement

behind an artwork. *Iconography: symbols

Color can function both

formally or expressively…

Format:Subject:Relationship between forms & space:Content:How does COLOR contribute?

Format:Subject:Relationship between forms & space:Content:How does COLOR contribute?

Format: painting on canvasSubject: rectilinear formsRelationship: shifts in value create 3D space; balance of light/dark creates light direction.Content: neutral, unemotional shapes in spaceHow does COLOR contribute?The shifts in color & value create shapes & spaceand a sense of light direction. It’s monochromatic, smooth, opaque application lend itself to creating a sense of control and balance emotionally.

Format: painting on canvas Subject: portraiture – human headRelationship: disjointed, ambiguous,raw, visceral mark-making, rich texturesContent: implies anxiety, disturbed mental state of beingHow does COLOR contribute?The colors are a wide mixture of warm/cool,light/dark, opaque & transparent. TheManner in which they’re applied is “raw”and haphazard, contributing to it’s appearance oflacking control – provoking a sense of imbalance

emotionally.

Harmony vs. Discord: Harmonious colors can create a pleasing effect,

while discordant colors create unease in the viewer

Jean Michel Basquiat’s painting Untitled from 1981

Franc

Francis Bacon

Frances Bacon- Self-Portraits

Colors and their associations…

Edvard Munch’sThe Sick Child1896

Van Gogh’s Café Terraceon the Place du Forum, Arles at Night

Paul Gauguin’sLe Christ JauneYellow Christ

Frances Bacon’sStudy After Velazquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X 1953; Oil on canvas, 60 1/4 x 46 1/2 in

Paul Gauguin Fatata te mipi (delectable waters), 1892 The white horse, 1898

Colors’ meaning can change, depending on the SUBJECT or the CONTEXT…

Color can also direct the CONTENT of an artwork…

Color has the power toimply multiple meanings &

communicate different messages

Common Associations with Key Colors:

• Red / Red-Violet = Love, Passion

• Black / Grays = Anger, Emptiness

• Greens = Calm, Refreshing, Quiet

• Blues = Depressing

• Yellows / Oranges = Energy, Happiness

Alternative Associations with Key Colors:

*Red ALSO signifies violence, blood (pain), anger, warning!

*Black ALSO suggests mysterious, power, liberty *Green ALSO linked to jealousy, illness, poison

*Blue ALSO associated with cleanliness, freshness

*Yellow ALSO implies weakness, cowardly

Matisse’s The Joy of Life

Intro. to Today’s Exercise:

• Take a few snapshots in Photobooth

• Desaturate & Posterize in Photoshop

• Colorize in a Cool / Warm palette

• Note the results: does color change the mood, personality, content of your portrait?