Study On Colors

        As an integral part of our next project, we were required to research colors. This included the symbolism behind colors, their psychological implications, and how they physically affect us. Color is very important in the fact that it adds a completely different level of dimension to pieces. If the drawn lines of the piece are considered 2-dimensional, then the color of the piece can be considered giving it its third dimension.
        Color can be employed in many ways to effectively enhance or draw attention to a piece or certain areas of it. Contrasting colors, such as a bright red against a sea of blues will immediately draw the viewers' eyes to the red. This creates emphasis and a very rapid movement of the eye across the art piece itself. However, this movement can be too rapid and can cause the viewer to miss details or become muddled with looking at the piece as a whole. Neutral colors may be used in between areas of complimentary colors in order to slow down the eye and bring focus to the objects within the neutral colored areas.

The artist adds a bright area of white to separate the blue and orange from contrasting too harshly. This also helps slows down the viewers' eyes and draw attention to the sailor.

        Despite adding neutral colors to the piece in order to slow down the viewers' perception of the piece as a whole, the artist must consider the composition as a whole when creating the piece. Warm lights always create cool shadows (as well as the inverse), and the artist must be careful to apply the usage of colors correctly in order to portray their desired image with the piece. "Spot" compliments, or discordant colors deviating from the color scheme itself, can help unify a piece by underlining or exaggerating the unity of the rest of the piece.

The artist uses the bright yellow of the toga to emphasize the figure with the hammer. The discordant yellow helps draw attention to the figure and brings unity to the piece. The separation of complimentary colors (orange and blue) using a neutral is seen here as well.

        Aside from working with what is aesthetically pleasing and artistically sound, people also use color in order to evoke certain emotions from their audiences. Bright colors, such as red and yellow, elicit feelings of excitement and passion. While cooler colors, such as blue and greens, are used to elicit feelings of calmness and trust. However, although colors themselves may elicit emotional responses, none of these psychological implications could exist unless they are combined with another sensory experience. This results in no "true" universal meanings behind colors.
        For example, while red may symbolize passion, love, violence, and blood in the Western world, it is seen as symbolic for good luck, posterity, and happiness in the Eastern world. The Western world also interprets grey as boring, sadness, and conservatism while the Eastern world symbolizes it as trust, durability, and longevity. White, commonly interpreted as purity, reverence, and cleanliness in the Western world, is the color of mourning and funerals of the Eastern world. Colors will always have both negative and positive connotations. A prime example is the color purple, which commonly represents nobility and wealth, but also symbolizes poison and ambiguity (due to its lack of natural occurrences within nature).

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