The magic moment: creating color harmony.

The magic moment: creating color harmony. If there is a truly magic moment in art class, it must be when astudent--of any age--attains a working knowledge of color's coreprinciples. At that point, she or he becomes able to consistently createcolor harmony in any painting, regardless of the subject matter. Fromthen on, that student gains greater confidence, can paint betterpictures and has lots more fun painting. Just as importantly, the same burgeoning artist leaves behind thefrustrations of trial-and-error painting. Those frustrations cause fartoo many painters to quit in discouragement, mistakenly concluding thatthey lack an innate aptitude for color when in fact, they simply lack asufficient understanding of it. Fortunately, color's core principles are not difficult toteach or to learn, and the rewards can be reaped for a lifetime. As theFrench artist Eugene Delacroix once observed, "Not only can color,which is under fixed laws, be taught like music, but it is easier tolearn than drawing." All a student needs are paints and a standardcolor wheel, which is inexpensive and widely available at art-supplystores and Web sites. It is a mystifying mys��ti��fy?tr.v. mys��ti��fied, mys��ti��fy��ing, mys��ti��fies1. To confuse or puzzle mentally. See Synonyms at puzzle.2. To make obscure or mysterious. fact of Nature that only certain colorcombinations are harmonious and attractive while others are discordant dis��cor��dant?adj.1. Not being in accord; conflicting.2. Disagreeable in sound; harsh or dissonant.dis��cor and unpleasant. Remarkably, there are only six basic harmonic colorcombinations, or color schemes. Those six schemes form the underpinningsof practically all successful paintings one is apt to see in a lifetime. On a standard 12-hue color wheel, these six schemes are depicted onthe "back" side (the side with the geometric shapes This is a list of geometric shapes. Generally composed of straight line segmentspolygon concave polygon constructible polygon in themiddle). Many people who've used a color wheel are familiar onlywith the "front" side, the color-mixing guide. As long as thepainter conforms to a particular color scheme's combination ofcolors (and mixes them with black and/or white as desired), the finishedpainting's colors will be in harmony. These six schemes allowvirtually limitless artistic expression because for each scheme, thereare countless possible variations in the combinations of hues,intensities (chroma), values and applications (techniques). Followingare the six basic color Noun 1. basic color - a dye that is considered to be a base because the chromophore is part of a positive ionbasic colour, basic dyedye, dyestuff - a usually soluble substance for staining or coloring e.g. fabrics or hair schemes. MONOCHROMATIC: The simplest but most limiting of the six schemes,it consists of just one hue (red, for example, as in the painting, TwoCherries) that can be mixed with various amounts of white and/or blackfor variations in chroma (intensity) and value. Variations in value areessential, as in a good black-and-white photo. ANALOGOUS: The monochrome's closest kin, this color schemeoffers the artist much more to work with. It consists of at least twoand no more than five consecutive colors on the color wheel. Forexample, turn the wheel's center dial so that red-orange, orange,yellow-orange, yellow and yellow-green show in the five consecutivewindows. Only these five analogous colors, or hues, were used for ThePiano Lesson. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] COMPLEMENTARY: This scheme employs two colors that are directlyopposite each other on the wheel. For example, Margaret's Tulipsuses red and green (the gray was made by mixing them together with atouch of white). The most commonly used complements are blue and orange,especially for landscapes. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SPLIT COMPLEMENTARY: This scheme uses three colors that are almostdirectly opposite one another--one on one side of the wheel, the othertwo adjoining that color's true complement. For example, set thedial's split complementary triangle at red-orange, red-yellow andblue, the combination used in Nectarine nectarine(nĕk'tərēn`), name for a tree (Prunus persica var. nectarina) of the family Rosaceae (rose family) and for its fruit, a smooth-skinned variety of the peach. with Brush. TRIAD: This workhorse of a color scheme employs three colorsequally spaced apart on the wheel to form a sturdy, triangularrelationship. Because of its versatility, the triadic combination ofgreen, violet and orange is often used, especially for landscapes as inTiber Island The Tiber Island (Italian: Isola Tiberina, Latin: Insula Tiberina) is a boat-shaped island in the southern bend of the Tiber river in Rome, Italy. Approximately 270m in length and 67m at its widest, the island is the site of an ancient temple to Aesculapius, the , Rome. TETRAD tetrad/tet��rad/ (tet��rad) a group of four similar or related entities, as (1) any element or radical having a valence, or combining power, of four; (2) a group of four chromosomal elements formed in the pachytene stage of the first : More complicated and demanding, a tetrad uses four colors,which are always two pairs of complements, such as blue with orange andred with green, as in Girl with a Boat. A tetrad can produce unusuallyrich paintings with excellent color structure. COLORFUL CLASSROOM ASSIGNMENT Give each of your students a color wheel and a simple, everydayitem such as a white paper cup. Then, using each of the six colorschemes, have them paint six color studies of the item using any colorsthey wish--so long as they conform to Verb 1. conform to - satisfy a condition or restriction; "Does this paper meet the requirements for the degree?"fit, meetcoordinate - be co-ordinated; "These activities coordinate well" the schemes. No matter what colors they choose within each scheme, all sixpaintings will demonstrate color harmony. When your students finish thisinvolving exploration, they'll be well on their way to colorcompetency and will see immediate improvements in their paintingskills.--D.B. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Dan Bartges, author of the book "Color is Everything"(The Oaklea Press, 2008), is a full-time artist from Richmond, Va. Visithis Web site: www.danbartges.com.