Birren's work has a
strong focus on linking how humans perceive colors to how it makes them react.
He writes, "Good smelling colors are pink, lilac, orchid, cool green, aqua
blue."- Faber Birren
"Instead of trying to reproduce exactly
what I see before me, I make more arbitrary use of colour to express myself
more forcefully ... To express the love of two lovers by the marriage of two
complementary colours ... To express the thought of a brow by the radiance of a
light tone against a dark background. To express hope by some star. Someone's
passion by the radiance of the setting sun." - Vincent
van Gogh, 1888.
"Colour helps to express light, not the
physical phenomenon, but the only light that really exists, that in the
artist's brain." - Henri
Matisse, 1945.
"Of all the colours, blue and green have
the greatest emotional range. Sad reds and melancholy yellows are difficult to
turn up." - William
H Gass, On Being Blue: A Philosophical Inquiry
Quoted in Colour: Documents of Contemporary Art edited by David Batchelor, p154.
Quoted in Colour: Documents of Contemporary Art edited by David Batchelor, p154.
"The craving for colour is a natural
necessity just as for water and fire. Colour is a raw material indispensable to
life. At every era of his existence and his history, the human being has
associated colour with his joys, his actions and his pleasures." - Fernand
Leger, "On Monumentality and Color", 1943.
“My choice of colours is not based on any scientific theory. It
is based on observation, on feeling, on the very nature of each experience. I
simply seek to find colours that will fit my feeling.” - Henri Matisse
“the appearance of colours is profoundly
affected by their juxtaposition with one another.” - Aristotle
“Matisse is a big inspiration for us — his colors, compositions,
and shapes are incredible and so poetic.” – Atelier bingo
http://www.sightunseen.com/2015/03/french-illustration-duo-atelier-bingo/
Relevant Books:
- Chromaphilia: The Story of Colour in Art, Stella Paul, Phaidon Press
- Chroma, Derek Jarman
- Chromaphobia, David Batchelor
- Colour, David Batchelor
- The Luminous and the Grey, David Batchelor
- Interaction of Colour, Josef Albers
- Bright Earth: The Invention of Colour, Philip Ball
- Colour in Art (World of Art), John Gage
- A Designer’s Art, Paul Rand
- Theory of Colours, Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
- The Secret Language of Colour, ,
- Colour and Meaning, John Gage
- The Secret Lives of Colour, Kassia St Clair
- Color Psychology and Color Therapy: A Factual Study of the Influence of Color on Human Life, Faber Birren
- Color: Messages and Meaning, Leatrice Eiseman
- Colour and Culture, John Gage
- The Story of Colour: An Exploration of the Hidden Messages of the Spectrum, Gavin Evans
Practitioners and People of Interest:
- Onya McCausland – Turning Landscape into Colour
- Marion Deuchars – Colour
- Hella Jongerius – Breathing Colour
- David Hockney
- Camille Walala – Walala X Play
- Atelier Bingo
- Ophelia Pang
- Georgia O’Keefe – Colour paletes
- Edvard Munch – Colour palettes
- Yves Klein
- Rothko
- Kandinsky
- Henri Matisse
- Paul Klee
- Nielly Francoise
Colour Theories / Colour Theorists:
- Pliny
- Leonardo
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
- Newton
- A.H. Munsell
- A. Boogert