Color Illusions Video

The video in class was pretty cool. The guy is speaking a little fast so it is some what difficult to keep up with what he is saying. I thought the most interesting thing was definitely when you looked at the white dot in between the red plane and the green plane and then looked down at the desert pictures. The pictures are automatically seen with a shade of red and the other is with a shade of green. It's INSANE! I think it is kind of funny how our eyes get tricked like that. There could be hundreds of times that are our eyes are being tricked and we do not even realize it is happening unless it's presented to us. The whole sound thing is still a little confusing. I understand how the sound is played according to the color but I guess, in my own opinion, I don't think the sound matches too well. Everything else was understandable and fun to learn.

TED Talk: Optical Illusions

I thought it was interesting that how we see can be based so greatly off of the context of the background or environment. Lotto also brought up an interesting point that the way we do see has been based off millions of years of evolution. SO what makes us see different colors when they're against a black background opposed to a white background and what purpose has it served in the past for it to affect our vision today?

Unit 3 Posting Assignment

Respond to the TED talk that we watched in class. Either start your own post, or respond to someone else's post about the video. What did you find interesting about the video? How did the information relate to what we have already discussed in class this semester?

Color Scheme Generater

Here is the link for the Color Scheme Designer website, which may help you with determining your color schemes for the assignment.

Mixing, Painting, and Shading

Now to be honest, when our class begin to discuss color theory and the difference between additive and subtractive color theory, I found myself looking back towards my child hood to answer a few of the questions. One of the questions that struck me was "what are the primary and secondary colors"? I admidiately thought to myself that it was red, blue, and yellow followed by green orange, and purple. One thing for sure is that I assumed wrong. Something that helped me get a better understanding of this theory was when our class used the lights with a color lid while flashing the primaries on the wall to create a color mixture. Then when it came down to mixing the primaries to make other colors such as black I had a hard time. It took me the whole class period just to get somewhat close to achieveing this, but it wasn't actually until the second day where I completely got it. Mixing the primaries to create secondary and tertiary colors also helped me to better understand the additive color theory. However, when it came down to tinting colors it was a bit of a challenge for me because I was making the tints too dark. Overall I feel that my progress in mixing color and tinting and shading was a success because I got eventually got better at it then I was before.

I couldn't believe how complicated it was to make black the first couple of times and should of thank twice on how much i used it through out piece (note to self use black way less). But overall i enjoyed the idea of this unit, especially with the understanding of subtractive and additive color and taking the color wheel and interpreting it through alternative systems or visual. i think the most interesting thing Ive taken from this unit would be additive color, the comprehension of light has furthered my thoughts on future projects and piece and how i can incorporate them much more.

Dear Black Paint, You Suck.

I never thought mixing paint would actually be a task, but it definitely proved me otherwise. Getting the correct shades and tints in the yellows was quite possibly the most frustrating exercise i've had to do this year so far -Maybe it's because making black paint feels like the most painstaking obstacle ever. I never really appreciated the color or each hue on a painting until now. Even though it took me so long to achieve, I am so happy i learned how to correctly mix paint. It has given me such a new appreciation for art.

Color Mixing

Subtractive color is probably the most difficult area I'm facing right now. I never work with paint and found it really time consuming to get the colors right. This past assignment I made a pin wheel and you can still see the areas I have trouble with in my work. The shading is not done too well and some secondary colors are too dark. This assignment was a total learning experience. I know that I'm not the only one who had some trouble so that's reassuring. I'm more confident with using colors for future assignments because of the color wheel I've created.

Meant to do this yesterday

In my marathon pencil cutting/eraser painting I forgot to make my blog post yesterday. Out of the in class exercises and mixing pigments for the color system project I have to say I was surprised by the darkness of the colors as they mixed and how much they changed as they dried. I was also a little surprised how well we were able to make black from the three primaries, I remember in high school (my one visual arts class before changing my major and joining herberger) no matter the combination we mixed we always wound up with a hideous brown.

Color color everywhere

From the in class experiments I learned that mixing color light(additive color theory) works differently from mixing paints (subtractive color theory). The reason behind the colors mixing differently is because with pigment white light hits the color and all the colors in the white light are absorbed except for the color you see which is bouncing off the object back into your eyes. While in color light, the light is only producing that color light and when turned off you get black. I used one of the in class experiments at home, I took a drop of water and placed it on my computer screen where it was white. From there i could see the three primary colors for the additive color theory; blue, green, and red.

Learning About Colors

I had never known that there were so much science that goes into the creating of colors and I found this unit to be very interesting. I had always known that red and blue makes purple or that yellow and blue makes green, but I did not know that that was only when one was subtracting color. I can honestly say I never knew much about additive color process other than it was when light hit the colors. I now know that when light hits the colors, it absorbs all the other colors and reflects the color that you see clearly back at you, therefore making you see only that one color. To think about it this way is very complex and it is something that I find very interesting. Also, another thing that I found out when doing this unit is that actually making black from the primary colors is a lot more difficult than it seems. I had never struggled with, or so I thought I never did, making black when I was younger, but making an actual hue of black with the primary colors was extremely difficult and frustrating. I now know how much of each primary I need in order to get black or close to it.

What is old is new again

The excercises we did in class acted more as a refresher course for me. I have studied the additive theory in physics classes and subtractive theory in art classes in the past. Although these theories are fundamentals for any artist working in any field I think it is easy to forget the basics! I didn't expect to learn about the human eye though, that was cool. :D

A color conundrum!

From the additive color theory experiments, I learned that although cyan, magenta, and yellow are secondaries in the additive system; they can also be used subtractively in screen printing. I found it interesting that the CMY triad can be used with either theory. I also gained a lot more respect for the lighting specialists involved in theater and stage productions. Since light is energy, it must be incredibly difficult to get the power supplies on the lights to stay at a constant level (remember when the batteries in one flashlight were low?) which needs to be relative to the other lights.

During the subtractive color theory experiments, I learned that certain hues may not form usable secondary and tertiary colors. I had never thought about the conflict between the green in a blue and a red when I'm trying to make a purple.

My only real question is from the reading. The book stated that warm and cool divisions can be entirely subjective and personal, which lead me to start thinking about perception and the way we perceive color (in our brains not in our eyes). Do we organize the colors we see instinctively or because we have all been exposed to color wheels, rainbows, and the ROY G BIV acronym?

Color Theory

I thought it was very interesting to learn about the additive, subtractive and CYK printmaking theories. I did not realize that there was more than the subtractive color theory. I now understand more about the light or additive theory and how the RGB works and TVs and computer screens. The marketing of televisions was really confusing to be before and now it makes a lot more sense how the colors are made from the lights. I thought it really helped to do the props that you brought in as well. While it isn't too confusing once you understand it, the idea of light and how it is almost opposite of how the pigment theory is, was foreign to me at first. The different lights while not working perfect made the theory clearer as to how it works. It is also really interesting to me as to how we see light. How the colors are absorbed and then reflected; it is weird to think that color is in our eyes and not really "real" maybe?!!?

Additive and Subtractive Color

What we have learned about additive and subtractive color theories in class has added to my knowledge but also has connected things I already knew. The subtractive color mixing is so familiar. Red, yellow, and blue are what I think of when I hear primary colors, but it is interesting to think of primaries as red, green, and blue in additive color mixing. I recognize using red, green, and blue from photo editing software and cyan, magenta, and yellow from printer cartridge ink and. What I find really interesting is that using the colors of the additive system might be a better mixing system for mixing paint, but we use the subtractive method because it is the traditional system for mixing paint. In light of the fact that our eye sees color through red, green, and blue detectors it seems logical that we should reproduce certain colors by mixing paint using red, green, and blue as primaries. If we use the system our eyes use to perceive color wouldn't our resulting mixes be more accurate?

color theories

From the additive color experiments we did in class I was able to understand more fully the idea of how different colored light from the electromagnetic spectrum creates color, from science classes I had learned this concept but did not fully grasp its relationships to art. Learning the primaries and secondaries of this theory (through the experiments with the spotlights) and how those relate to process printing and digital art forms was also very interesting. One thing I wondered about this was why the subtractive process primaries (cyan, yellow, magenta) are used in photography and computer printing and the traditional subtractive primaries (r,y,b) are used for paints, inks, and dyes. What is it about these primaries that allows them to mix to make the many perceptible colors better than one another in the different types of media? Is it simply that the process primaries are used with media that has its basis in digital systems (I guess this is confusing to me since they will still be printed using inks, and wouldn't it make sense that they could use the subtractive primaries then, when no longer in a digital form)?

The in class exercises with subtractive color (pigment) theory definitely made me realize how difficult mixing paint is, since I have never done it before. I thought it was very interesting that different sets of primaries can result in more 'clear' secondaries sometimes but more dull ones other times. This made me think of Miranda's question about her black turning yellow greenish when shading it, maybe different sets of primaries can affect the way that a black produced with them will mix with other colors later on. I was also wondering if the power points were posted anywhere? I had a question about something on one of the slides but I can't quite remember it...

learning new things

I thought it was so cool to learn about all the different ways that someone can mix colors. i had no idea that the additive color theory even exsisted. it was great to use the lights ith the covers on them to see how it really works. the youtube video we watch with the cymk printing was a total trip as well. i wonder who came up with that idea, it would deffinatly be something that i woud like to persue further. maybe not in this class but in the future. does any one in the class do print making? if so let me know i would really like to learn.

Color Perception

I am still amazed that color can so easily differ from one individual to another. I have always understood that some people are color blind, and I understand that all of our bodies are different and come with slight nuances. However, my perception of vision has always been one thing I have trusted whole heartily. Vision is by far one of our most relied on senses, but what if you were to wake up one day with one of the vision defects below? How would that change your world? Could it change your personality?

I have experienced a few art classes, but none of them have ever touched on the topic of the additive color theory. I have even made color wheels before, but until this lesson I was just mixing pigments hoping for the right color. From childhood science classes I somewhere understood that if light passed through a prism, it would make a pretty little rainbow. Having both the theories, subtractive and additive, explained in depth to me just makes color more powerful. I am kinda stuck on the idea of possibly how much better it would be to be color weak, and have a different perception of color while making artwork.

Learning About Additive and Subtractive Color

As we did the in-class exercises on additive and subtractive theory I learned a lot more about additive theory than subtractive. I never knew that additive was the light theory involving color. To me, I always though that the primary colors were the same for everything, by using red, yellow, and blue; I guess I was wrong. I learned that in additive(light) theory the primaries are cyan, yellow, and magenta. On the other hand I knew much more about the subtractive(pigment) theory and was very amused with all the exercises we did with subtractive color. Overall, I enjoyed the exercise on both theories and learned the most about additive color.

I understand everything perfect now so I don't seem to have any questions!

Extraordinary Human Abilities!

This entire article is quite interesting, but take special note of the section on Tetrachromacy. Recall our conversation about the color receptors in the human eye (cones and rods). The typical human eye has three types of cones, RGB, which percieve hue. And the rods aid the eye in perceiving tint and shade.

Experimenting with Color

I have been told about the additive color turning to white since my high school painting class, and again in my 2-D design class, and again in my 3-D design class, but none of my instructors have ever brought in light and said, "this is how it works." Although the information has been put in front of me before, it was nice to see the actual process first hand. As for the subtractive color experiment, I have seen that happen every time I clean a paintbrush in a bucket of water. I have never made black from the primaries before though, and as aggravating a process as it is in small amounts of color, when I put it together in a jar, it was easy. I like the way it shades the colors more than using that Mars black out of the tube. I know they are supposed to technically be the same thing, but it seems like the combination black in the jar I have now makes a nicer color for shading... except my yellow keeps turning green. But not just a "yucky yellow" green, more like an "oops my black is too blue" green. I guess I am asking if that's ok?

Additive/ Subtractive Experiments

Through the in-class experiments, it was an easier way to memorize how the color changing process works. As artists, we are more visual learners than other forms of learning so the experiments really help. With the additive experiments, it was really interesting to see green and red make a yellow when most of us are use to red and orange making green. The subtractive theory was more common to me and I greatly understand the process of mixing colors. Although, I've never made black with all three primaries; I've only made shades of brown. I'm still slightly confused on how the whole bubble part of the experiments work. I sort of understand how its like Newton's experiment with the glass prism, but not how the bubble changed colors from cyan to yellow. Also we never really finished the conversation on how printer's primary colors are cyan, yellow, magenta, and black, so I'm still questioning the process of how that works.

Demonstration

How to post.

Additive/Subtractive Color

Hello, students of Color. Please make a post that relates to your experience with the in class exercises for this unit. Things to think about:

What did you learn from the Additive Color (Light) Theory experiments? What about the in class exercises with Subtractive Color (Pigment) Theory? What questions do you still have?