6. The Principles of Composition 4: Color
Color consists of three elements: value, hue, and chroma. You choose from all three of these elements when using the color picker tool in Photoshop:
Every color comes with baggage––emotions and connotations that we get from nature, from society, from science, etc. The color of an object changes how we think of it, because of these mental associations. A white swan feels more pure than a brown duck, a red rose expresses love better than a yellow one. A black crow feels meaner and dirtier than a budgie. This is called color symbolism, and it's very strong, even though it's false.
Some psychologists use these connotations to evaluate patients, such as children, by what color crayons they use. Blue indicates depression, red anger, yellow fear, purple inferiority, orange immaturity, pink weakness, grey depression, and black menace. The only healthy color a kid can use these days is green...
I hope you can all see the folly of judging someone's mental health before they've even started a drawing. I mean, if they're calm enough to sit down and draw something, that's a good sign. And, it's crucial to remember, despite all the possible meanings that colors have, the context is key. A red rose and red blood are not the same thing. So, here's the baggage:
1. White and light backgrounds feel like day, so they feel safe, because we see well during the day. White generally symbolizes light, life, and hope.
It's hard to imagine any monsters hiding under this bed.
2. There are exceptions, based on context. The arctic is white, but very scary because the cold can kill you, plus polar bears. Cold and isolation can change the meaning of any color:
Holiday, by Zach Graves
Note, in both the pictures above, the figures dress in black and turn away from us, so they're serious and aloof, increasing the isolation.
If we're escaping from prison, a white spotlight becomes terrifying.
Also note that in many Asian countries, people wear white to funerals, so it can have a somber, mournful feeling, depending on the viewer and his-her culture:
3. Black represents darkness and mystery, so a black background feels scary and tense.
Diner, by Mikko Kinnunen
This is true with black clothing, objects, no matter the time of day:
Mothers, by Kathe Kollwitz
A black background adds a level of intrigue to any portrait:
We don't know where he is. Our only information is the introspective look on his face. What's he thinking?
4. Bright shapes tend to glow more in black backgrounds. If you link your darks together, "shapewelding" them, they can frame your light areas and make them stand out.
Note how the man's coat, his chair, and the shadow under the table all merge together, so that you look up at the contrast of the lamp and the woman's face.
Here's another simple example:
Notice how her hat and clothing blend into a black background?
5. Part of this has to do with simplifying your value scale to only 5 or so values. A painting that does this has "breadth". The fewer separate values you use, the clearer it becomes.
You can limit down to 3 or even 2 values. It's a trade-off between clarity and realism.
6. Both black and white can symbolize death. Western cultures wear black to funerals, but in India and Korea, they wear white. Bones are also white.
7. Red reminds us of blood and fire.
Face Lit by Fire, by Laura Sanders
Red's an energetic color that adds life to any subject:
Blood red can also serve as a warning, putting us on alert, even if there's no good reason. We're so attuned to the color red, there have been studies that show students do better at math when sitting in a red classroom––it keeps them more alert:
8. Yellow reminds us of the sun.
Anything that's yellow gives us this same sense of energy and joy.
9. Blue reminds us of the sky and water, which we generally find relaxing. Studies show that students do worse at math in a blue room, but are better at creative activities.
10. Objects that have the same color and/or shape in a picture also share a connection - they belong together like members of a family. But the connection to color is even stronger than with shape.
Do you see how the cat and the boy seem to belong together in the painting above? Notice that they have the same color hair. Would the two have such a close, loving relationship if the cat were some different color? Would you immediately read them as being a family?
Here's an example where the woman seems to belong in this bed because her white pajamas match the white sheets:
In this next work, the couple match because their feet are the same color, the warmest in the work:
11. Value is the most important to the success of a composition. Great colors can't save a poor value design with no tonal structure. Think of the design in only black and white and see if it works. Then it'll still work with a full range of colors and values. It will read well even from a great distance.
The Offering, by Steven Hickman
In the painting above, Steven Hickman begins with a black and white sketch, then paints his idea in black and white on a canvas, and then adds color at the end.
12. James Gurney argues that a subject is more pleasing when it satisfies what he calls the windmill principle of value, based on Rembrandt's famous painting of a windmill.
If you look at each of the four sails, and compare it to the sky value, you'll find each is different: light against light, dark against dark, light against dark, and dark against light.
It's a great way to marry a subject to its background. It gives a sense of complete interaction, every piece contrasting in a different way, like a motif in a Bach fugue.
13. If that's too hard for you, a simpler idea, common in landscape painting is to change the lighting of the foreground, either to or from light to shadow. This emphasizes depth, and is a great way to create focal points (see next lesson).
Grove by a Pond, by Ivan Shishkin
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