Reading response 2

The following section is based off of:
Stewart, Mary. Launching the Imagination: A Comprehensive Guide to Basic Design. 4th ed. New York; McGraw-Hill, Inc., 2012. Print
Chapter 2

For the vast majority of my artistic career (so to speak), has mostly been dominated by black and white. I’m sure that says something about me… not going to think too much about that, right now… Anyway,  I thought the chapter on color theory was fascinating. I had previously studied up, a little bit, on the basics of color. I was already familiar with the terms additive, subtractive, RGB vs. CMYK, hue, value, intensity, and complementary colors, but I really learned a lot from reading about monochromatic, analogous, split complementary, chromatic grays and earth colors, the use of disharmony, and all the various uses of the previously mentioned. It is a lot to take in, but I’m off to a good start, I feel.

I thought it was interesting that complementary colors, when mixed together, produce a wide array of browns, whereas when paired, they become ideal partners and each increase the power of the other. The possibilities for use of split complementary colors, such a Georgia O’Keefe’s “Jack in the Pulpit No. V” were very interesting, as well.

Perhaps the most intriguing of all, to me, was the concept of using disharmony to create an effect that is both disturbing and beautiful, illustrated by the example of Francis Bacon’s “Tryptych, 1972”. This type of concept is right up my alley. You can bet that I will be making good use of this concept in future works of art.

Learning about uses for color, such as creating the illusion of space, weight and balance, distribution and proportion; using color to add emphasis, evoke emotion, and symbolic use of color is all going to be very relevant and useful to know about and utilize, when pursuing a career in graphic design. Being able to target a specific audience, by one’s use of color, and evoke specific emotions is a powerful tool indeed.