Module 3 - Color Theory and Emotional Effects

1. Describe Color and it's effects on emotions. Use the appropriate vocabulary of color in your posting.

Color’s effects on emotions are mostly culturally biased reactions based on how the colors have been used in our environments and how we see other people react to them. The colors of holidays are big in the American psyche, with red & green for Christmas and orange & black for Halloween eliciting strong emotions in most people. Warm colors, like red and orange, are reminiscent of fire and the sun, while cool colors, like blue and green, remind us of water and the sky. 

2. What is a theoretical aspect of color that most intrigues/fascinates you? Why?

I enjoy the optical effects that can be created with color, specifically the art of pointillism. Made famous by Georges Seurat in the late 19^th century, the artist places thousands of tiny dots of color instead of mixing them on their palate. Up close, the dots are very distinct but as the viewer moves back the points begin to blend together, creating an array of dots that form beautiful colors.

3. In the Color video, what made the biggest impact on you in regards to color and it's effects on emotions?

The reactions that the painter, June Redfern, had to the colors in her own painting were very interesting to me. She would finish a section, go outside and look at it with binoculars, and then get angry or frustrated and paint over it. It looked nice to me, then she covered the figures in black and it looked ruined! I was happy when they revealed the finished piece at the end and she had managed to make it look better than ever. 

4. In the Feelings video, what made the biggest impact on you in regards to color and it's effects on emotions? 

The most interesting segment of the Feelings video for me was Rothko’s red paintings that he made for The Four Seasons in the late 1950s. He was using deep reds in order to paint “something that will ruin the appetite of every son-of-a-bitch who ever eats in that room.” He ended up giving up the commission he had received and put the paintings into storage. It was a nice parallel to the Van Gogh segment from the Color video, in which Van Gogh’s hatred for the café caused him to paint it in ugly greens and reds to show his distaste.