As I have been learning from Design 1 lectures and from reading Interaction of Color by Josef Albers, color can have dramatic effects on a design. The addition of color to a black and white design can be transformative. Each color carries its own distinct personality which it reflects upon the design. When presented in different colors, the same design can look dramatically different.
American painter, Wayne Theibaud, is fascinated by artificial colors and the prevalence of these colors in our society. His works carefully study the colors of mass produced objects such as cakes, candy, ice cream, and make up.
Confections by Wayne Theibaud
Theibaud's paintings are never monochromatic, but are the synthesis of several bright, eye catching colors. However, while any of these colors alone in a composition would draw the viewers attention immediately, these colors combined balance each other out and create a unified whole. The colors in Thiebaud's paintings interact rather than compete.
Albers discusses how some colors are more dominant than others. Thiebaud uses this dominance effect to his advantage when intending a bright color or colors to stand out from a subdued background.
Boston Cremes by Wayne Thiebaud
Thiebaud's painting are often characterized by dramatic shadows. To convey these shadows, Thiebaud mixes the bright colors used in the lit surface with darker colors like black to create varying shades of the colors, which illustrate varying degrees of shadow.
If one were to subtract color from Theibaud's paintings, while they would still by lovely, they would not be nearly as captivating. Color transforms his designs and urges the viewer to look at the brilliant artificially-produced colors that exist in everyday objects.
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