Home


Color Education

Studying color is a subject that seems to have been pushed aside with the rise of technological advances. “Technology picked up color study on a serious level and because of that we now have the glowing phosphors of television and computer screens, metallic paints, fractals with their repeating color sequences, holograms, and four color process printing. Our contemporary conceptions of color are further augmented by that chronic parasite called advertising that links color to desire for everything from the prismatic sparkle of a diamond to the amber glow of a beer.” (Willard) Thus leaving color in the hands of their imagination and technology. Instead of being studied as it had been in the time of wondrous artists such as Cezanne, Vermeer and Seurat.

It is important to remember, “The artist who never studies color can become a sort of facile and respected artist. Yet it is difficult to articulate the difference between an artist who uses color to create a cohesive color statement and the artist who uses color in a superficial and conventional manner. Succinctly said, the artist lacking in color knowledge lacks possibilities. Color education can demonstrate the remarkable heights some artists have attained using color and can challenge students to aspire to those peaks.”(Willard)

Back to Top

This is an image used to separate information. I created this image using PhotoImpact.

Fauvism

Between 1901 and 1906 a number of exhibitions were held in Paris. At this time the work of many great artists such as Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, and Paul Cézanne became accessible. This created a sense of liberation and artists began to experiment with radical new styles. Fauvism was the first movement of this modern period, in which color ruled supreme.

This free script provided by
Dynamic Drive

This is a slideshow with three paintings by Matisse, Derain and Roualt.
For more information click here.

"Their style of painting, using non-naturalistic colors, was one of the first avant-garde developments in European art. They greatly admired van Gogh, who said of his own work: "Instead of trying to render what I see before me, I use color in a completely arbitrary way to express myself powerfully''. The Fauvists pushed this idea further, translating their feelings into color with a rough, almost clumsy style. Matisse was a dominant figure in this movement he was known as the Master of Color; other Fauvists included Vlaminck, Derain, Marquet, and Rouault." (ibiblio.org)

"Fauvism, meaning French Fauvisme, style of painting that flourished in France from 1898 to 1908; it used pure, brilliant colour, applied straight from the paint tubes in an aggressive, direct manner to create a sense of an explosion on the canvas." (ibiblio.org)

However Fauvism was short lived, lasting only as long as its originator, Henri Matisse (1869-1954). The Fauvists believed absolutely in color as an emotional force. They believed color lost its descriptive qualities and became luminous, creating light rather than imitating it.
Learn more about: Fauvism - Timeline

Back to Top

This is an image used to separate information. I created this image using PhotoImpact.
A Guide to Palette Paintings

“Palettes aren't merely a mechanism to mix colors: they must harmonize with a style of painting.”

This section is for the painter in you or the curiosity you may have in the painter’s palette. “It’s easier to understand a painter’s palette if you see it both as an abstract pattern on a color wheel, and "in action" as a finished painting.”
Learn more about: Different palettes and a painting by the artist who uses them