FreshMeadowsWen

[wenshanshih]

Invented Colour - Warm and Cool Painting - The collage project

This is the final product of this project. The use of color may be a little too vibrant, but I hope it directs the viewer's eye to the dynamic triangle: the Male, the Female, and Venus.

[wenshanshih]

Warm and Cool color invention: A Collage Project

I put together images from online resources to create a collage which shows two truncated heads, a male and a female, from the antiquity, abandoned in the ruins, feet apart and gazing at each other, under the Evening Star, Venus, prior to the dusk. The desirable mood for this collage is romantic; two broken heads are eternally longing for each other.

To build the romantic mood, I searched for the ideal color palate and found it in Edward Hopper's earlier work, "Blackhead, Monhegan" (1916). Subsequently I built a set of swatches based on Hopper for my reference for my collage. In my imagination, the warm colors (maroon, orange, burnt ochre, olive greens and flesh tones) would give temperatures to the deserted scene, hot and dry, while the cool colors (indigo, cobalt, teal) would be used to paint the sky and shadows. The combination of warm and cool colors could help me depict the main subjects - cold statues with warm souls, suggested by deep shadows. it also help create the 3-D effect required in this project. Finally, I wanted to change the time frame of the collage from daytime to near dusk, depicting a glorious moment before sunset when the Evening Star emerges. The dynamic interplay of warm and cool colors for the sky may achieve the atmosphere in my vision.

I later decided to add an image of goldfinch in my collage. What inspired me is the Pulitzer novel "The Goldfinch" (2013) by Donna Tartt. The bird, the only living creature, is the sole witness of the romance although it may not understand the human emotion. The bird also joins Venus as the cycle of nature, forever changing and moving forward, indifferent to the fall of human civilization or personal loss. The goldfinch also symbolizes hope, freedom, resurrection of soul, and healing. In this painting, it perches on the head of the male statue, seemingly accompanying and comforting him.

[wenshanshih]

Observational Still Life practice - a reflection

I was frustrated about my painting of the wine bottle (right) because I totally forgot how to make the acrylic paint transparent, as the professor had just demonstrated it in class before sending us to do a still life painting. In fact, adding a clear medium to a small amount of paint allows you to create a thin, translucent effect like glazing. It is not hard and is quite effective!

I learned from mistake and tried again over the weekend (left). Even though I sucked at making the bottle and goblets symmetrical, I was happier with the effect of transparency on my second try.

[wenshanshih]

I am inspired by the way colors are used in these five paintings to create specific mood. I will use some of the color combination in these paintings to create a special emotional temperature for the final project of the painting class. Orange, blue, burnt ocher, maybe a shade of purple and black - together they create a vibrant, dramatic and visually luxurious mood. In the meantime, they can generate a feeling that is pensive, calm, and sometimes transient. These colors remind me of sunset, sky, land, ruins, time and space....

The above paintings here are all from the Whitney Museum site, including: Allen Ruppersberg's "Greetings from California" (1972), Edward Hopper's "In Railroad Sunset" (1929) and Sea at Ogunquit" (1914), and Jack Connolly's "Decent into Hell" (2021). The glorious colors excite but at the same time calm the viewer down, maybe because they are colors from the most glorious moment of the day, when sun is about to set.

[wenshanshih]

Make a small painting using limited color palette: Let ‘warm colors come forward, cool colors recede’ to make the pear pop forward. Also, make the pear and cloth feel 3 dimensional by using warm bright colors for areas that are are light, and cool colors for shadows.

[wenshanshih]

Mixing Color Swatches -

I chose 7 color swatches and tried my best to mix the colors to match each swatch, following the 4 points of interest (hue, temperature, value and saturation). 

[wenshanshih]

An exercise of Abstract Discord Painting-

Mix 3 different acrylic colours that are true DISCORDS

Using masking technique (painters tape), you will recreate your 3 tone collage using the 3 discordant colors you mixed. Paint will be applied FLAT and OPAQUE, edges will be crisp.

[wenshanshih]

George Bellows’painting Dempsey and Firpo (1924) depicts a climactic, deciding moment in the boxing match, where Firpo the boxer flips his opponent Dempsy out of the ring and wins the round. In depicting this intense moment, the artist uses colors to deliver the excitement and chaos dramatically. The warm and cool tones are blending harmoniously and rhythmically.

The warm tones of red, yellow and orange colors seen on the boxers’ skin, the ring light and parts of the crowd, are the stronger color tones; they convey a heated temperature of human flesh and emotion. They also indicate where the action and commotion is.

The cool tones of blues and purples (in clothing) and greys (background walls and ceiling) give the scene depth and variety. The neutrals, such as white (boxing ring ropes and straps, the umpire’s shirt), browns (the spectators’ clothing, faces) and blacks (shoes and hair) provides an ambiance of the crude and cruel reality, where the winner takes it all. The warm colors are stronger in temperature, while the cool and neutral colors are more muted and duller, allowing the central action stand out theatrically. The interplay of colors creates a mood of dynamic intensity that grasps the nature of boxing as a relentless brutal spectacle. While the spectators are portrayed in at best half-faced mobs gazing, cheering and pointing at the action in the ring, the two boxers are clearly the focal point of the painting. Both are semi-naked, with muscular, lengthy arms and legs cutting cross each other, conveying a mood of aggression and hostility. Firpo, the winner, is portrayed as just successfully giving a punch at his opponent; his muscular limbs shine with sanguine orange tone, his face in dark shadows. Dempsey, who is being knocked out of the ring, appears sallow and pale by comparison. Overall speaking, the use of color in this painting achieves a vibrating, explosive atmosphere in which passion for a heated brutal game is celebrated.

[wenshanshih]

Barkley L. Hendricks’ Steve (1976) is a striking portrait which features the life-size subject, Steve, wearing a white outfit standing against a glaring matte-white background. At a first glance, there seem only two colors in this painting, white and black. But with a closer look, there are shades of white (the shirt, trench coat, pants and the background), gray (shadows on the outfit), brown (skin), maroon (lips) and black (hair and mustache, sunglasses, and shoes). The skin is painted with warm browns and the outfit is painted in bring and glowing white, and the background is in in neutral stark white. The sharp contrast between dark and light colors brings our attention to Steve’s face which, though dark, is nuanced with expressions and lively depth.

The color combination creates a mood that is sharp, cool, stylish and assertive. The white outfit, taking greater portion of the space on the canvas, delivers a sense of boldness, dignity and control. The nuanced warm tone of the skin, on the other hand, makes the figure come alive with presence and character. Steve is exceedingly tall – part of his head and foot is out of the fame of the painting, indicating a larger-than-life stature. The sunglasses covers his eyes and therefore prevents the viewer from seeing his eyes, giving him a cool, distant attitude. The lens reflect a view– an architectural structure or something – suggesting Steve’s outlook of the world. Holding toothpick (?) between his lips, Steve seems to say, “Who cares? I am who I am!” In short, the use of color in this painting empowers Steve, making him an ideal image of the black man, daring, sophisticated and defiantly confident (wearing a color completely opposite to his skin color).

[wenshanshih]

Archibald John Motley Jr.’s Getting Religion (1948) describes a night scene in the street by using colors in the mid to dark tonal range, including blues, reds, greens, and pinks. However, those colors do not prevent the painting from generating a vibrant, lively and saturated effect. The mood created in the painting is energetic, fantastic, jazzy and poetic; it is full of dynamic, theatrical quality, a sense of joy palpable.

[wenshanshih]

Mark Rothko’s The Four Darks in Red (1958) is a large abstract painting which, at a first glance, defies immediate interpretation. When I saw it close up (as the artist intended), I felt both drawn into it and revolting against it. The artist uses colors such as crimson, burgundy, reddish brown and orange-red to create consecutive rectangular color panels with fuzzy edges around; a thin red borderline surrounds each panel. Squinting my eyes at the painting, I seem to see a fire burning behind the canvas; its flickering glow can be seen between as well as around the color panels. And the flames are engulfing the bottom panel, creating a thick, shaggy border around it. I suspect if the exhibit room is considerably dimmed, the viewer will be able to see more clearly the radiance of the fire.  

In addition, the artist places the weightiest color on top panel and the soft, lighter color on the bottom. This results in “a reversal of visual gravity,” as the notes inform the viewers. While the lighter, warmer color on the bottom seems to come forward, the top darkest (and largest) panel seems receding. As such, the painting evokes a mood of quiet, uneasy intensity.

Rothko layers multiple reds in this painting; these colors seem to bleed into one another, creating a visual rhythm. The brushstrokes are broad and think, but soft-edged; it creates an effect of floating and pulsing. As mentioned above, I imagined a fire burning from behind the canvas, and this red fire is the unifying element of the painting.

[wenshanshih]

In Alice Neal’s portrait Andy Warhol (1970), the painter uses various cool colors for the flesh tones to paint her title character: pinks, greens, blues, oranges, violets, and grays – pastel-like colors but cool in temperature. Together, these colors produce a subdued and melancholy mood. Warhol’s nude upper body is exposed with scars and a medical corset, resulted from an attack in 1968, suggesting violence, trauma and despair.

To create shadows, the artist uses blues, greens, tans and a tint of purple; these colors express the state of Warhol’s fragile, hollowed-out body and face. The light blue shadow in the background, surrounding his body and face, seems ghostly; it isolates and imprisons him in a psychological shock. On the center of the painting are the ugly, prominent surgical scars crisscrossing Warhol’s belly, represented by long, deep shadows in brownish reds. These are the evidences of a terrifying incident. Around the scars, tiny white, uniformly stitches reflecting light, crawl on the flesh like little insects. They vividly articulate the psychological turmoil Warhol has experienced.

To create light, the artist uses pale pinks, light yellows and whites. Together, these colors give a cool tonality, like florescent light, which strips and exposes the man in cold reality. Warhol’s eyes are closed as if he can’t bear facing the world carefree again. The use of colors in the painting successfully creates a fragile, withdrawn and isolated mood.

In sharp contrast with Warhol as a flamboyant celebrity in the pop art world during 1960s, the painting captures a moment of his insecurity and vulnerability. As such, the portrait is an excellent psychological portraiture. It allows the view see his emotional truth. Warhol is no longer a cool, gregarious cultural icon; he is turned into a symbol of survival and humility.

[wenshanshih]

In his four paintings exhibited at Whitney Museum (7th floor), Hopper uses various colors to create shadows in the scene to create a heightened mood in the paintings.

For example, in Early Sunday Morning (1930), he uses blue-greens and muted purples to highlight the shadows of the building’s facade, the window sills and the awnings. The shadows of the hydrant, the barber’s pole and the street lamp (not seen in the painting) are in olive brown and cobalt colors. These cool colors interplay harmoniously with the bright, warm orange, yellow and green hues cast by sunlight on the entire building, evoking a mood of quiet loneliness.

In Second Story Sunlight (1960), the shadows on the roofs are painted with dark violets and muted ultramarine on the sides of the facades. A shadow of blue-green can be seen through the window inside the house. The shadows on the faces and bodies of the two women figures are painted earthy brown. All the shadows are in sharp contrast with the bright sunlight, evidenced by the glowing ivory facades of the two houses and the warm flesh tones on the women’s bodies and faces.

In New York Interior (1926), the shadows are created in blue-violets and warm greys on the woman’s dress and in various blue-greens on her body. There are also the muted brown shadows on the mantel and a shade of blue-green shadow underneath the picture frame.

In Seven AM (1948), the shadows are painted with cool blues and muted violets. The trees next to the building are covered with a muted shade of light purple layering on the olive green. The interplay of warm and cool colors creates a sense of unity and balance but also a feeling of stillness and isolation.

[wenshanshih]

The first image shows an arrangement in order of TONAL VALUE. The color swathes are put up against each other, making a column of lightest to darkest.

The second image shows an arrangement of swatches that differentiates TEMPERATURE of colors.

The third image is an example of hard boundaries (Where one color meets another color the two edges create a line. The line is referred to as a boundary line. The line will be soft or hard according to values, i.e. if the values are close, the boundary line will be soft; and if one value is dark and the other is soft, the boundary line will be hard.

[wenshanshih]

In this painting, "Yo Soy Un Puente Tendido" ("This is My Home" 2019) at Whitney Museum, the artist uses various unconventional materials to create. The mediums include: Cut paper, tape, canvas, papier-mâché, towel, cut clothing, ink, graphite pencil, wax crayon, and acrylic on woven magazine pages.

The lifespan of this painting, if not in a constant environment, with no dramatic fluctuation of temperature or exposure to sunlight, will probably become brittle and perish eventually. The heavy use of magazine pages and papier-mache, will not withhold long time. Tape will also likely lose its sticky nature. Fabrics such as towel and clothing may also fade in colors.

[wenshanshih]

Not sure which medium suits you best? Learn the 7 biggest differences between oil and acrylic painting.

[wenshanshih]

Difference between Oil and Acrylic

Differences

Base: Oil paint uses oil (like linseed oil) as a binder, while acrylic paint uses a polymer emulsion and water.

Drying Time: Acrylics dry by water evaporation in minutes, while oil paint cures through oxidation over days, weeks, or even longer. 

Blending: Oil paints' long drying time allows for seamless blending and softer edges, while acrylics' fast-drying nature makes them ideal for sharp, crisp details and textures. 

Cleanup: Acrylics are water-soluble, making cleanup with water and soap easy. Oils require solvents like turpentine or mineral spirits. 

Cost: Acrylics are generally less expensive than oil paints, offering great value. 

Vibrancy: Acrylics can appear more vibrant, whereas oils may seem more murky due to their different compositions. 

Can they be mixed? No, you cannot physically mix wet oil and acrylic paints because they are not miscible, as water and oil do not mix. 

Can you put acrylic over oil? No, you cannot put a layer of acrylic paint over a dried layer of oil paint. The oil paint surface remains in motion as it cures, and the water-based acrylic paint cannot adhere to it, causing the acrylic to crack and peel off. 

Can you put oil over acrylic? Yes, you can paint oil over dry acrylic paint. The dried acrylic layer provides a stable, water-resistant surface that will not interfere with the oil paint. However, ensure the acrylic paint is completely dry and cured to prevent issues later.