For many years I worked with a very pale, high key palette that originally seemed quite delicate to my artistic eyes and appropriate to the mediums I was using ( colored pencil with soft pastel/ watercolor. At a certain point what had originally seemed delicate now appeared quite timid- tepid--, hesitant and weak. Time to dig in and make some changes.
I became obsessed with the color blue--- all manner and variations- indigo to Krishna's pale blue light, subtle nuances of deep blue tones, to jarring electric blues; I used a predominately blue palette for at least 10 years. And have recently been told by 2 gallery dealers that " Blue is a beautiful color but it doesn't sell....) ( Not true...)
At a certain point 6 years ago I made a radical shift to working with intensely saturated red orange and fell in love with the color. Reds and oranges do appear in much of my work.
A number of my paintings appear very garish to me right now- an obsessive dependence on permanent green, in both some of the oils and soft pastel pieces. ( You can find a few on my website....) and it has taken writing this blog to recall what generated that color....light translated into pigment sometimes just does not work.....
I do believe everyone will have different perceptions on color issues. For myself, I feel that most of my color choices have been greatly affected by my life for the past 40 years as a spiritual student. I have definite psychological and emotional relationships with certain colors and their nuance and am aware that certain colors relate to internal states and stages
of spiritual development. Sri Aurobindo wrote extensively on the symbolism of colors in one of his volumes on Yoga . He knew.
While working I automatically think of the impact a color might have. I associate a certain kind of orange with what Aurobindo called the Supramental, a version of Celadon green with Universal Mind, and a vibrant green- which I can never translate in paint, with the Divine Khidr. Krishna is often represented as being Blue. Kuan Yin is usually represented in the purity of White. A vibrant Pink is often associated with love, while Black and earth tones, for me, seemed to absorb light and dull the environment of the painting. It has been very difficult for me to set up color relationships without thinking symbolically about the impact of the colors and has taken years for me to use Black comfortably without imposing any symbolic implications upon the color. I do love its depth and much of my new work incorporates dark and neutral tones.
“ALL COLORS ARE THE FRIENDS OF THEIR NEIGHBORS
AND LOVERS
OF THEIR OPPOSITES”
W.H. Auden
These are my musings and I wonder how others approach color... Maybe you will comment?
