Color and “Light”

Glenn Hirsch

What is the ‘real’ color of the house?

The ‘real’ color doesn’t exist independently of the light

Monet painted ‘white marble’ in different times of day

theatrical light

Chiaroscuro light the object emerges from deep shadow

Theatrical light is the spotlight

theatrical ‘back-lighting’ the light comes from behind the object

Melissa Miller

Hirsch

Monochromatic Color Schemes

Glowing, mystical, supernatural light

the light is coming from the object

Hirsch

Hirsch - Antediluvian Sleep

Fred Martin

Emile Nolde

Monochromatic Color Schemes

Monochromatic color schemes enhance a particular mood

Wolan Huang

Tom O’Neill

Nathan Oliveira

Francis Picabia 1913

Graham Sutherland, 1944

color theory and ‘light’

“value’ = the black-and-white of the color

Black and white is the “value” of the color

Since color is “relative,” we use warm and cool versions of each color to enhance the feeling of “light”

Chromatic scale to enhance the illusion of “light”

Lighter value in the light

Brighter intensity in the light

Warmer (orangey) red in the light (vs bluer purplish) in the shadow

Chromatic scale

• Light to dark• Bright to dull• Warm to cool

Chromatic scale

Georgia O’Keefe

Abstractions in a Lost Tongue

Pyre

Maya Planet

Transfiguration

After the Flood

Creation Myth

Night Spirit

Quintessence