Color Design

Artist Statement

This project had two parts to it, the first consisting of a value scale of a primary and secondary color, and the second being our creative color project. The value scale consisted of choosing a primary color, I chose red, and mixing tints and shades of that color. The same was done for the secondary color, for which I chose orange. The value scales helped me learn how to better mix as well as apply the paint. For this stage of the project we simply used a sheet of canvas paper, which we gridded to make room for two scales, a small square paint brush, a palette and palette knife, and our acrylic paint. Although I have used acrylic paint before, doing the value scales really taught me how to mix paint efficiently and also how to angle and alter the paint brush to apply the paint more smoothly. The second stage of the color design project was to choose a design or motif of our choice and incorporate 84 or more different colors in it. To achieve all these colors, we had to mix tints and shades of primary, secondary, and tertiary colors, which results to a total of twelve colors. Each of these twelve colors had to have three tints and three shades as well as the original color. Although it was difficult at first to wrap my head around it, it began to make sense after a few colors. Only about halfway through the painting process I realized that to make red-orange (for example) all I had to do was add more red to all of my already mixed tints and shades of orange. A couple classes in, I switched my first design to another, as it looked like hotel art. Although this put me behind most of the class, I started over on a bigger piece of paper and began sketching a geometric design. In general, I enjoy drawing patterns and odd geometric doodles, so this task was quite easy. I began the painting process with red, making the colors fade out from the darkest shade to the lightest tint. In the checkerboard "stairs" in which I was using the red, I had plenty of room to achieve the use of all tints and shades. With other designs such as the green squiggle line, I only had room for two shades, so I put the rest of the green in another design close by. In some cases, I decided to tape the edges of some shapes to make the lines as crisp as possible. Later on, I went back with some pure white paint to touch up any mess ups.

The Elements of Art included in my painting are line, shape, color, value, form, and space. Line, shape, and form can be seen in the different patterns and designs I used throughout my painting. I incorporated color, of course, and added value by essentially painting value scale in different shapes and forms. This touch made it feel a bit three dimensional, and it felt as though the shapes were layered over one another. These elements created the following Principles of Design: balance, contrast, movement, pattern, rhythm, and unity. I created balance by leaving some white areas underneath the various colored lines. Also, I repeated certain colors throughout the painting, and always kept them grouped together. I would say some contrast was created when I used two colors next to each other, which would normally not complement each other. A little movement can be seen in the cubes, which sort of curve into the painting. Although it is not a continuous design which is identical throughout the page, the design is still a pattern. I created unity by grouping all the shades and tints of a color in the same design. This kept the painting clean and crisp, despite its overwhelming colors and patterns.

As it is simply a design, it doesn't tell a specific story as a narrative painting would. This painting relates to my life as I thoroughly enjoy color, as well as interesting patterns and designs. I didn't realize till after I finished, however this painting reminds me a lot of one of my favorite works of art, a wall tapestry, by Gunta Stölzl. I am most proud of how well the colors compliment each other. Also, I am pleased with how nice those color, such as yellow green which usually look puke like, actually turned out. I struggled quite a bit with completely covering the canvas paper below, and making a completely smooth coat. I often had to go over each little square or line 5 or 6 times before it began to look even. On top of that, each coat made the color appear slightly lighter, so if I painted over one square, I would have to paint over the whole row so it looks like it's the same color. Overall, I am very pleased with both my decision to start over, as well as the final product. I absolutely love the colors and designs and how they compliment each other.