Colour Journal – Exercise from Exploring Color by Nita Leland

This colour journal is a recommended exercise from the book Exploring Color by Nita Leland.

The purpose of this exercise is to get a sense of what colours attract you and to investigate colours that resonate with you.
This information will be useful as you explore colour theory.

Questions
What colours resonate with you?
What do you like about their usage of colour? Is it their brilliant colours or strong values?
Can you distinguist between value painters and colorists?
Do I like unusual color?
Do you prefer subtlety or boldness.

Answers
What colours resonate with you?

Here are a couple of paintings by two of my favourite artists: Edgar Degas and Alphonse Mucha. The last example is by a talented artist from Art Station (who’s name escapes me — sorry!).

I sifted through dozens of photos before settling on these two paintings.
First off, I can’t say that I’ll always be drawn to these colour combinations. My preferences for certain styles is constantly evolving. For now, muted, borderline ‘haunting’ colour combinations (for lack of a better description) resonate with me the most:

1 Alfons_Mucha_-_1896_-_Summer

tumblr_mekgscUgfq1qagb02o1_1280girl What do you like about their usage of colour? Is it their brilliant colours or strong values?

I like the first painting the most. In particular, I like the contrast between the dimly-lit, muted room with the more vibrant, luminescent dancers.

I may be getting my preferences for lighting mixed up with my preferences for colour here. Either way, I this Degas did a masterful job in that first painting.

I like the overall mood evoked by the following two examples. The subtle, nearly-monochromatic colours exude a peaceful, yet mysterious, complex vibe.

With respect with the gorgeous bottom painting – the fairly monochromatic colours really resonate with me. I was also struck by the contrast in shadow and light cast by the window onto her face and decolettage , but this is probably not as related to colour as it is related to composition and light.

Can you distinguist between value painters and colorists?
I think so.

Do I like unusual color?
Hmm. If someone were to catch me off guard with this question, I’d probably say ‘yes’. However, the paintings I gravitate towards are a more muted and relatively ‘unadventurous’ as far as colour goes.

Do you prefer subtlety or boldness.
Subtlety for sure!