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COLOUR, LIGHT & LOCATION
Dylan Bedford | RGSHW | A Level Investigation
COLOUR THEORY
99designs.co.uk
SCIENCE
In science, the three primary colours are red, blue and green. This is because these three colours combine to give white and no other combination of light can get red, blue or green. By combining these three colours of light any colour can be displayed and is how TV and phone screens work.
ART
The artistic colour wheel has the primary colours red, yellow and blue and white and black can be used to give tints, tones and shades. Mixing pigments is using the subtractive colour model which has the primary colours; cyan, magenta and yellow however this is simplified to red, blue and yellow in the most recognisable colour wheel.
EFfects
Where colour theory gets interesting to me is the effect is has on emotion and atmosphere. As I have previously talked about, the warm and cold colours have the effect that their name describes and thus combining these effects can create interesting atmospheres. Also, I am interested in the presence of light itself and how it can produce eerie or joyful atmospheres.
DEPTH PERCEPTION
Colour – blue colours help create a sense of depth, if used in a painting it will push that part away from the viewer into the distance. Due to blue light’s short wavelength it is refracted the least of all colours when travelling through the atmosphere hence far away mountains or hills seem blue. What’s important to artists is that the brain therefore recognises blue objects as being further away.
Light – light also affects our perception of depth in its clarity and contrast. The foreground always has more contrast, as its closer, while the background is less clear and hazier due to being dispersed by the air.
So, if you are trying to show something to be far away you would make it bluer and less clear and the opposite for a closer object
This shows how spaces can be painted to manipulate the depth. Coloured walls seem to 'loom'.
TEMPERATURE
These pictures clearly show why all of us can relate to blue being cold and red being hot. Scientists in Australia have shown that red light raises the heart rate and blood pressure while blue light lowers them.
Amazing things can be done with this, for example, in 2009 Tokyo installed blue lights at the end of platforms on the Yamanote railway and it reduced the suicide rates by 74% at these platforms because the blue lights lower heart rates and make people less impulsive.
This the Yamanote railway station where blue lights have reduced suicides. UK stations like Gatwick are doing the same thing and have even reported a 100% drop in suicide.
EMOTION
We subconsciously link colours and light to many things. Bright warm primary colours are cheery and happy they remind us of the seaside and of energy whereas dark sombre colours are associated with sadness or relaxation. Funerals and pubs are examples of where these atmospheres are created, both using dark colours.
Therefore, in paintings if you were trying to show sadness or thoughtfulness, you wouldn’t go for bright, clashing, primary colours where if it was a child playing outside you would.
I have edited this image of a woman crying into two versions, one with dark, sombre and cool colours and for the other one, I added bright, clashing colours. The one with bright colours should evoke an edginess in the viewer as it combines two elements which we associate we completely different things, the subject of the drawing illustrates sadness while a bright and cheery atmosphere is emitted by the colours. On the other hand, the darker one should feel more natural as all aspects seem to portray sadness.
THE MESSAGE COLOUR AND LIGHT CONVEY
Knowledge of the effects of colour and light is a useful weapon to have in the arsenal as a business owner. For example, fast food restaurants like KFC and McDonalds use reds and yellows and bright colours to create an energetic atmosphere making their customers come and go quickly to increase business. On the other hand, pub owners want their customers to stay and order more drinks and therefore construct a calm and relaxed mood. Abuse of colour and light is seen everywhere; bright flashing lights in casinos, bright red ‘sale’ banners in stores etc.
On the contrary suicide prevention scheme on the Yamanote railway shows how it’s not used solely for moneymaking.
The universal effects of colour it makes the message it sends completely universal. Some examples are; the red/blue dots on taps for cold/hot, red meaning stop/danger, green meaning go and simple analogous colours showing professionalism.
The way a room, space or mood can be changed with colour and light, fascinates me and I will go onto look at how artist harness this.
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