Messy Desk Dispatch: Bathing in Colour

Exploring the colour wheel and using limited colour to create mood and feeling.

Hello

This month I’m thinking about COLOUR. There are so many things to write about using colour and colour theory. In previous posts I’ve talked about how I choose palettes and the Bauhaus 7 contrasts of colour.

One way I use colour is by zooming in on a section of the colour wheel and using shades of one colour or analogous colours, colours that are next to each other, to create a feeling or a mood. The intensity of using these colours gives the sensation of bathing in colour.

Here’s a look around the colour wheel with reference to my work and this book about colour in art.

Paul, Stella (2017) Chromaphilia: The Story of Colour in Art. New York: Phaidon

Yellow

From Chromaphilia p.175.

A photo I took in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. The yellows and golds glow in real life particularly against the blue wall.

I love using yellow. A limited palette with yellows can create so much warmth and sunshine. In an urban setting it can pop against the greys of concrete to draw attention to shape and signage.

Red / Pink

Combing the Hair by Edgar Degas, National Gallery, London.