Contrast and Colour

Aspire Gallery Online is slowing progressing. I am in a desperate need to start painting myself and find most of my time is spent more on editing and the intricate nuances involved with the website. However, creating the website is not all about dry programming, the aesthetics are of equally important......It is these two contrasting elements that need to work within the constraints, yet remain balanced, that will make the website appealing.

A clever artist can also manipulate contrast to create a desirable piece. Contrasting colour in an artwork, for example, can make the work pop, yet also remain balanced.

So, how does an artist achieve this?

One way is to use complementary colours, because when placing complentary colours next to each other they appear brighter and more intense. Providing complementary colours are used in a ratio effect, they will also create balance to the eye, yet at the same time make a component pop.

In simplistic terms, complementary colours are opposite each other on the colour wheel  (example: red and green).

However, a better definition is that 
- the complementary colour of a primary colour (red, blue, or yellow) is the colour you get by mixing the other two primary colours  Hence, the complementary colour of red is green, of blue is orange, and of yellow is purple.

- the complementary of a secondary colour is the primary colour that wasn't used to make it. The complementary colour of green is red, of orange is blue, and of purple is yellow.

Artist, Claire West Painterprintmaker creates wonderful contrast through complementary colours - see example below.

Claire West Painterprintmaker

See original Facebook post here

Another artist that uses contrast effectively with complementary colours is Marie O'Driscoll

See original Facebook post here

See original Facebook post here

And, jewellery designer Marie les bas bleus  also uses complementary colours to create contrast magnificently. 

See original Facebook post here

See original Facebook post here

Analogous colours can also create contrast, though a little thought is required. Analogous colours are colours that are next to each other on the color wheel and thus when placed next to each other they create serenity.

To create contrast with analogous colours - choose one colour to dominate, a second to support and a third colour  (along with black, white or grey) as an accent.

See original image here

Another way to create an effective contrast is to use analogous colours in the rainbow effect. This works because although analogous, the eye doesn't stay focused on one area but scans the whole and identifies differences.


The Creative Crochet Collection

See original Facebook post here

Below is a mix, can you identify where complementary or harmonious has been used?

See original Facebook post here

Lastly, only one colour but an amazing list of contrast being created, through tone, shape or texture......all very clever.

Pantone Color

See original Facebook post here.

Kreative kisses,
Donagh

Mistakes - A Blessing or a Curse?

The first part of Aspire Gallery - Aspire Gallery Online - is getting closer.
It is looking beautiful and will provide a wonderful opportunity for artists to showcase  their work.

Unfortunately, the technology involved in creating something that seems so simple, is mind-boggling. The easiest way to relate the website's development is to undertaking a very complex maths sum at school...........make the slightest  mistake and the whole outcome changes.........Remember, the frustration of having the wrong answer and having to scroll back through every line to find the error? Now, triple this ten-fold and it will explain the situation I've been experiencing.

It is not so black and white with mistakes in art and craft though.

In knitting, if you drop a a stitch, your piece loses the intended form. You can try to hide your mistake by adding a stitch or stitches in a later row, keep going and be happy with the variant, or you can unravel the stitches back to the mistake and correct.

Mistakes in art and craft become subjective. Sometimes, the beauty is in the mistake and a piece  becomes more appealing because of its' 'flaw'. This is especially so in watercolour.

Backwashes in watercolour are usually accidental in nature. They occur when you lay two different washes close together and one happens to touch the other, the wetter of the two will flow into the other. Water - spotting is when water is accidentally spilt and damages the watercolour.

Both of these accidents, to the traditional water colourist can spell disaster. However, such mistakes can have a wonder in themselves. I get quite excited when they happen accidentally in my work and create their own unique quality.

More so, it is when water spotting and backwash are used in combination wondrous effects can be created. It is just knowing how to use such accidents to your advantage.

For example, when clear water is dropped on a very wet wash a soft and subtle effect is created. When water is dropped just before a wash is dry the effect is harsh and creates hard edges. The drier wash is less likely to flow back into the water to soften the edge.

Interesting backwash can be achieved by touching the edge of a wash with clear water. The pigment gets pulled away and concentrated.

The example below shows where the pigment is being pulled away.

Some artists like Björn Bernström, deliberately use such a technique to form the basis on their work.

See the examples below.

See original image here

See original image here

Kreative Kisses,
Donagh