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Contrast    Part 2        Colour contrast                                                                            Back to articles list    

Have you ever noticed how red flowers look much brighter on green grass then when they are surrounded by yellow or orange flowers? Or perhaps you may have noticed that the flowers of the Mimosa bush look a far deeper colour against a bright blue sky than a grey one.

Yes, the surrounding of the colour helps us to better evaluate not only the tone, but also the colour saturation and contrast.

Pic. N1

Have looked on the top of Pic. N 1. The grey colour on the middle of 2 squares obtained a different shade of colour, depending on the surrounding colour. The left grey looks much warmer then the right one, even in reality they are absolutely have same grad of pure grey colour. Which means the achromatic colour takes on chromatic characteristics the opposite (contrast colour) of chromatic background.

The combination of two contrast colours (cold and warm) is increasing their saturation on the border between these two colours. Especially compare with the same colour, which has border with not contrast colour. See bottom of Pic. N 1. Middle square on the left looks much warmer, sharper and lighter, then the square on the right.

If compare two colour, which located close to each other on the colour weal, our eye will try to change the shade of the colour, to make it more contrast, more different to the comparative colour. So, green colour next to blue will looks more like green-yellow one. The yellow near red will looks like a yellow-green one. If you know these laws you can successfully resolve questions of colour harmony and colour scheme.

In nature colours are in harmony because the single sours of light (Sun, electric lamp, Moon) united the subjects. Quite often we do not notice what a sheet of paper will looks incredibly differently in Moonlight, on the middle of the day or on a rainy morning, as we carry with us knowledge that a sheet of paper is white. In reality the sours of light will colour everything. As a result a sheet of paper will be pink in a sunset and grey-blue on a rainy day.

Moreover, the same sheet of paper will looks different if it is near you or 200 meters away. The air mass has its colour and will colouring this sheet of paper, making it darker and colder then it is more far from the viewer.

Further more the colours of subjects are reflect on each other and added the extra colours to each other. See how colour of a heat or an umbrella will dramatically change the colour of a head of person, passing you by on a sunny day.

One of the most common mistakes of beginners is attempt to passively transfer the colours of nature as it is to the painting. They separately look at the subjects with out noticing any connections. After they separately transfer each colour of the subjects on the painting and do not takes in account the air perspectives, reflections, lightning and boundaries of the colours. Each of these aspects will change the colouring of a subject dramatically and combination of two or more can easy change the colour of the subject in to the opposite one.

Pic. N2

Have looked at top of Pic. N2. The green little square is a cold colour on the neutral white and yellow is a warm colour, but if you place the green on blue and yellow on orange you suddenly realise that the green is a warm colour and yellow is a cold one, compare to their surrounding. Also see the bottom of Pic. N2. The same yellow will looks warmer on the blue compare to the orange one. As a result, combination of the colour and its background makes the “temperature” of the colour a relative conception.

Colour contrast and saturation.

The most effective contrast of opposite colours is better achieved with combination of not saturated colours or combination of one chromatic saturated colour and one achromatic. As saturation of two bright colours is compete for our attention and exhaust our perception.

Lightening of two contrast colours.

If tone of two contrast colour is close or equal to each other - the contrast impact will be more dramatic then if one of the colours is more darker then an other one.

Colour contrast and the size of the colours spots.

If size of colour spots is small they will melts in the contrast background colour if the viewer is far enough from the painting. (See the Tone contrast article).     

by Margarita Iakovleva 24.02.08                                                                                     

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