Colour My World

By Rebecca Ogle

Different ways which colour operates in an artwork

Golden Age

Patrick Hanly Golden Age 1980

Tonality - the general overall colour effect which is dominant in the work. This work has a bright tonality.

Consent

Thomas Gotch Consent 1884-1885

Local colour - the colour we know an object to be without reflected or absorbed colour.

Cass

Rita Angus Cass 1936

Warm colours - reds, yellows and oranges advance in this work.

Snowing at Cass

Rona Fleming Snowing at Cass c. 1947

Cool colours - blues, greens and violets recede in this work.

Godley House, Diamond Harbour

Margaret Stoddart Godley House, Diamond Harbour c. 1913

Colour perspective - whites and reds appear to advance into the foreground, and the voilet recedes into the background giving a sence of spacial depth.

Making Ligurian Lace

Henry H. La Thangue Making Ligurian Lace c. 1905

Hamonious colour - like relatives, these share the same family eg red and orange. Side by side on the colour wheel they operate harmoniously with each other.

Small Lattice No 54

Ian Scott Small Lattice No 54 Jul 1981

Complementary colours - directly opposite each other on the colour wheel. When placed side by side, the red looks redder and the green looks greener.

CHROMATIC SUITE I, No. 2, 1968

Milan Mrkusich CHROMATIC SUITE I, No. 2, 1968 1968

Abstract art - colour can be a central subject of a work.

In the Wizard’s Garden

George Dunlop Leslie In the Wizard’s Garden c. 1904

Colour symbolism - red as blood and passion, black as a threat all add clues to the narrative of this work.

Dawn/Water Poem

Ralph Hotere Dawn/Water Poem 1986

Psychological response to colour - colour creates a sensation in the brain. Our first reaction is emotional and is linked with the personality of the viewer, sometimes in a sub-concious way.