Saturday, September 3, 2011

The Color Blue

"Art is the signature of man."
G.K. Chesterton

"Blue gives other colors their vibration."
Paul Cezanne
1839-1906


In Kindergarten we learned that the primary colors are
Blue, Red & Yellow;
but, children were not always taught this. It was not until Guido Antonio Scarmiglioni formally proposed the idea of "simple" colors in 1601 that the 'radical three' were accepted as "primaries".
So, we will spend the next three weeks in painting class with the primary colors. This week the painting classes focused on the color blue (Philip Ball devotes a marvelous chapter to blue in Bright Earth, Art and the Invention of Color).  After enduring a lecture on 'Blue' (a powerpoint that ranged from how and why we see color to uses of blue from art history), students painted value scales and self portraits. Here are a few examples-


A Value Scale by Lindsey Kenewell
'Blue Me'
by Travis Cashwell
'Blue'
by Samuel Carter


The drawing classes began grid transfer drawings. Students were given two options for this first drawing:


a human skull
a self portrait


Most chose the skull.


Graphite drawing by Rachel Levi
Graphite drawing by Christina Culp
Rachel working on a skull
Yearbook Staff taking a walk in the wood


A parting thought

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