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| Be Joyful View 1 Contemplation Columns Hand painted paper wrapped around poplar wood 14", 12", 10" x 1.50" |
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| Be Joyful View 2Contemplation Columns Hand painted paper wrapped around poplar wood 14", 12", 10" x 1.50" |
For these three columns I used the same papers as were used in this piece, New Growth. I had thought to play around with temperature and proportion of that variable. I feel like temperature is really a subjective thing. For example, people make associations with color and often have established expectations about temperature. For example, the color orange is often thought of as a "hot"color. When you start to really look at it closely though, such as looking at a swatch of paint, it can have some cooler undertones. Not expected right? Add some yellow to it though and you are back in business with the warmth. And then depending on what color it is next to, the temperature can vary once more. As I said, it's subjective (while being objective!). Blues are particularly tricky I think (as are greens). Blues that have more of a "red" undertone, meaning no yellow is involved, tend to feel a little cooler to me. But I have read that people find them to be warmer in feeling while blues with a more yellow undertone have a cooler feeling. For me, blues that have more yellow to them start to feel warmer. Just the opposite of what might be expected! Anyway, people could debate this stuff endlessly and the whole deal could come to fisticuffs! For me, I am not trying to convince anyone but just want to understand what I am seeing as well as what others may see.
Hope everyone is having a good weekend so far. Thanks for reading and commenting. Happy Mother's Day too to all of you moms out there.
Libby
Really stunning, Libby. I love your color choces.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea showing two views. Double the viewing pleasure.
I cant help but think I would really like the tactile experience of feeling the paper joints and does the paper have any texture at all? How have you protected them - a varnish?
I do understand what you mean about the colors. I have four tubes of orange paint and only one of them is what I would call a "true orange" and that is by Utrecht. The others are defintely in the orange range but as you described a tad more red in some cases.
For years, Ultramarine Blue appeared warmer to me because of the reddish tint and it took walking on a glacier in brilliant sunshine for it to click that the more yellow in the blue, the warmer it was.
Julie,
DeleteI always thought ultramarine was warmer also and actually advocated that position in a couple of classes that I taught on color mixing. I have read over the years conflicting viewpoints. And then you throw in the warm/cool versions of each color and then you are entirely muddled! Is it any wonder that it's hard to paint?
I guess that it is best to decide for yourself about temperature rather than relying on some written guidelines. I think your experience of actually observing something is the way to go. It's hard to substitute anything for what direct observation provides.
With regard to the paper, most of the texture this time is fairly flat. The joints have been interesting. They are obvious of course, where one paper ends and the other paper begins. And you can see the "seam allowance" of the underneath paper as well. I did put several coats of varnish on them (satin) to protect the paper somewhat. They are really fragile though. You can handle them of course but gently.
I have gone back and forth on things a lot, trying to decide about what I want these things to be. Should they be slick and smooth columns of color? If so, then you really are forcing the paper to do something that it can't do. Does the fact that you can see the underlying paper and the edges of the paper make these look like craft projects, for lack of a better description? What about the imperfections that arise and show because these are not precision cut papers? The painted wood is visible at the top and you can see the grain. Is that bad? Same thing on the bottom. So, it's a question of craftsmanship, categorization and tolerance level for me. It's hard. I like them a lot. Can I improve them?
Good questions. Thank you. I'll see if I can include some close ups.
Libby