Colour. I LOVE playing with it, usually in the form of shapes & textures cut from magazine pages (as seen above). I have drawers full of these bits of paper that I create collages with. Bold colours attract me the most, like yellow, turquoise, red, orange, purple & lime green, & because these bits of colour are jumbled up in my drawer in no order at all, it’s quite challenging for me to start a collage – there are so many colours, tints, tones, & textures, that it gets overwhelming…. so generally I just pick one & start (no plan whatsoever)…. & just see what happens when I put things together. Which made me curious this week, to perhaps learn more about colour theory, & the history of colour use, in different times, & cultures.
At the library I found a book, published 2019, called ‘Colour. A visual history’ by Alexandra Loske.
This book is a fascinating reflection on the history of colour theory, since Isaac Newton presented the rainbow (using a prism), & the art experiments that followed, because science could reproduce colour for painting & printing. There is so much about colour we take for granted! It’s mind boggling to see where it all started – & what we have available to us now! Artists such as Van Gogh, Matisse, Josef Albers, & Paul Klee are included, plus many artists previously unknown, who all contributed to what we know today about colour. It’s amazing to comprehend how much time scientists, & especially artists, spent discovering things about colour, that has become what we see as colour today, in painted art, print media, & on digital screens.
Personally, the real joy for me is the accessibility of such a vast array of colour & textures, printed on the pages of magazines, that I can cut out & make collages with! My own little experiments with colour reminds me that ‘knowing’ about colour, is nothing compared to my experience of working with it, & discovering things about it myself. We all perceive things so individually, I am reminded that while a good understanding of colour helps inform me, it’s the practice of playing with it, on my own terms, that’s the invaluable experience I can build on.
Vicky xxx
