... Exploration of Color and Values...

For this project I was asked to make a simple color wheel and a value scale. When I first read this I thought it was going to be easy because I have always loved to draw and paint even more so, therefore I saw myself as a professional. The value scale was not hard to create. I made a 10' x 1' rectangle and created ten 1 inch squares within the rectangle. I started at the left and finished at the very right, which corresponded with the values black to white. It was a little difficult to gauge how dark squares 2-9 should be, but I believe I accomplished the task with some accuracy. Here is my value scale:

I used a graphite pencil to make this value scale.

The color wheel was a whole different story. As shown in the movie, I was under the impression red, blue and yellow were the primary colors. However, after watching the video I was able to see much clearly how magenta, cyan, and yellow ere the actual primary colors. When red, blue, and yellow were mixed in order to create the secondary colors, the colors turned out darker and clouded compared to the mix of magenta, cyan, and yellow. I thought this was eye opening because I have always thought that red, blue, and yellow were the primary colors, and in reality they are not. This discovery was most shocking.

I was able to obtain Daler and Rowney Process Cyan 120, Liquitex Deep Magenta, series 3, and the Fine Touch yellow. I should have probably red the outline of this project and watched the youtube video Color Theory 2 before I went and bought the supplies for this project because I bought the wrong magenta. My color wheel turned out ok, but I know that the magenta I bought was the wrong color therefore throwing off my colors a little. The red and blue are too dark; however the green is right on. Here is my color wheel:

I was unable to rotate this picture it was supposed to be seen in a landscape view. The color block below the cyan is supposed to be blue, however the picture the camera capture makes it look like black, and in person the block looks like a deep purple. The block of color in the very left column should have been red, however it looks like a dingey orange. Watching the video and creating a very bad representation of a color wheel allowed me to understand the colors a little bit more. I have always loved to paint, but I would often end up extremely frustrated because the colors were not correct. I even remember a time when I attempted to paint my living room a mustard yellow but ended up buying a bright orange. I do not know what I was thinking at the store, it was an awful decision. However, through this journey of color I am able to understand what makes up color, the pigments that are used in paint to create each color, and how I am able to perceive color. Hopefully this new insight will help me make better color decisions in the future.

Like I said before I was always prefered painting over drawing. I like the way paint blends with other paint so easily and the endless shades of colors you can obtain with little paint color selections. When I was at the store buying the project supplies I also bought three canvases, a bag of brushes, and an acrylic paint set. This project has been inspiring.