AND WILL LAST OVER SEVERAL DAYS
IN THE WORLD OF THE PAINTER A MAJOR AMOUNT OF STUDY IS GIVEN TO COLOR THEORY. THERE ARE A NUMBER OF COLOR THEORIES BY DIFFERENT SCIENTISTS AND ARTISTS GOING BACK INTO THE 18TH CENTURY. THE ONE I AM GOING TO TALK ABOUT HERE, AND PERHAPS THE EASIEST TO UNDERSTAND, IS THE JOHANNES ITTEN THEORY OF COLOR WITH THE COLOR WHEEL BELOW.
YOU MIGHT WONDER WHAT THIS HAS TO DO WITH CERAMICS AS THE CERAMIC COLOR PALETTE SEAMS TO HAPPEN MORE BY LUCK THAN JUDGEMENT. ITTEN, WAS THE COLOR MASTER AND THEORIST AT THE BAUHAUS ART CENTER IN GERMANY BEFORE IT WAS CLOSED DOWN BY HITLER IN 1933. THE MORE YOU KNOW ABOUT COLOR THE MORE LIKELY YOU ARE TO SATISFY YOUR CLIENTELE, BECAUSE THEY GENERALLY BUY THINGS BECAUSE THEY ARE ATTRACTED TO COLOR FIRST AND TEXTURE SECOND.
JOHANNES ITTEN COLOR WHEEL
THIS COLOR WHEEL STARTS WITH THE TRIANGLE IN THE CENTER THAT IS DIVIDED INTO THREE PURE PRIMARY COLORS. RED, YELLOW AND BLUE ARE THE COLORS THAT REPRESENT THE PUREST HUES. IF YOU MIX PRIMARY COLORS TOGETHER YOU GET SECONDARY COLORS; YELLOW + BLUE = GREEN; YELLOW + RED = ORANGE; BLUE + RED = PURPLE. YOU CAN KEEP MIXING COLORED RINGS AND EXPANDING THE WHEEL OUTWARDS. THE FURTHER YOU EXPAND THE WHEEL, THE MORE SUBTLE YOUR COLOR RANGE WILL BECOME.
IF YOU ADD WHITE TO A COLOR HUE, IT BECOMES A TINT; IF YOU ADD BLACK IT BECOMES A TONE. IN BOTH CASES, IT WILL LIKELY MAKE THE HUE ALSO OPAQUE OR TRANSLUCENT. ON MONDAY NEXT I WILL WRITE ABOUT THE ROLE OF THE GRAY SCALE AND ANALOGOUS COLORS.
THE CERAMIC COLOR WHEEL
THE MAIN DIFFERENCE IN APPROACH TO USING A CERAMIC/PAINTERLY METHOD IS THAT IN PAINTING THERE IS NO FIRING PROCESS, AND IN CERAMICS IT IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO GET A FULL SPECTRUM OF COLOR WITHOUT MULTIPLE FIRINGS UNDER DIFFERENT ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS. WITH THE SELECTION OF RAW MATERIALS, THE RANGE OF FIRING TEMPERATURES AND THE VARIETY OF KILNS, ONE CAN ACHIEVE A WIDER RANGE OF SURFACE THAN PAINTING GENERALLY OFFERS. THIS COLOR WHEEL IS BUT A SMALL EXAMPLE OF THE POTENTIAL OF COLOR DEVELOPMENT IN CERAMIC GLAZES.
TO BE CONTINUED MONDAY FEBRUARY 27TH 2012
Robin Hopper - I sincerely hope that many readers are keeping up with your posts - the information you are providing is invaluable. So much you are saying I learned the slow way, I suspected was the case, or i am amazed I never quite figured it out. What I am saying is that you are providing a lot of expertise that can help so many potters - Thank you for sharing! I am enjoying being part of your classroom online :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Darlene,
ReplyDeleteThe opportunity to help others learn about something that is part of ones' passion in life is one of the great privileges of the teacher. I have been both learner and teacher just about all of my life. My personal need for thorough understanding of whatever my interests might be has given me an amazing life, full of diversity. I have learned much of value and I can't take it with me when I go, so leaving it behind for others to find and use has been paramount in my teaching and life's work. I plan to continue for as long as I have something to offer and can remember what it might be!