UNIT 6: Albers & Relational Color

See Student Work Here

UNIT VI: Albers & Relational Color

Op Art

Objectives

To understand how color relationships impact the way we "see" color.

To explore different contexts for art-making--specifically, art in the public arena.

Project Overview

Your challenge is to plan and execute a proposal design for a public art mural (or other form of public art) using

the principles of color theory.

Reading and References for Study

Reading: Chapter 4 in Becky Koenig’s Color Workbook. Pages 54-73.

Artists: Sonia Delaunay, Josef Albers, Richard Anuszkiewicz, the Anonima Group, Victor Vasarely, Bridget Riley

Movements: Orphism, Optical Art, Minimalism

Vocabulary

color interaction, simultaneous contrast, successive contrast, optical mixtures, complementary vibration, bezold

effect, actual color transparency, simulated transparency

Materials

Open

Process

Preliminary:

1. Before coming to class, review the thematic concept of Art For Hire as found on the ArtCORE website. Also read the discussion on Albers & Relational Color for Unit VI and the assigned section from your textbook.

2. Check out the Phoenix Public Art Program site on the web.

Exercise:

The Phoenix Art Museum is seeking proposals for their Artists’ Initiative: Temporary Public Works Project. They want an Op Art-style work in a public location within the city for the purpose of community enrichment.

1. Choose a building, overpass, sidewalk, or other public feature that interests you. Take pictures of the site from multiple perspectives, for use in making preliminary drawings. The Mill (of Mill Street) would be a good choice.

2. Research the site: who owns it? What is it used for? Who uses it? What is its history? Why are you interested in the site? Do some brainstorming (writing) on your thoughts about the site and why you chose it.

3. Making several thumbnails, experiment with the following color studies in order to prepare for the Op Art mural or public work you will be proposing for the museum.

Thumbnails:

Color Interaction Studies:

1. Make one color look like two colors. (1 thumbnail)

a) Using the concepts of color interaction, take one color and place it on two different grounds to make it appear to be two different colors.

b) The proportion should be approximately 6” x 6” or 5” x 5” square for the ground and a 1” x 1” square or a 1”4” stripe for the color to be changed.
The point is to make the same color look radically different by manipulation of various colored grounds. Try many possibilities with colored paper until you get a major color change.

Remember to make the grounds as different as possible. Differences in hues (opposite hues), saturation, color 
temperature, and/or value are needed to truly change the color you have chosen.

2. Make two different colors appear to be the same color. (1 thumbnail)

a) Pick two slightly different colors.

The colors may vary in value, for example, a lighter and a darker orange. They also can be slightly different in hue, a green BG and a bluer BG, for example. The two colors might be slightly varied saturations of one color, for example, blue and a tone of blue.

b) Now pick two different grounds to try to equalize the two colors that you have chosen.

Try to use the three principles of color interaction to implement this. Example: If you are using a lighter and darker value of one color, you can put the light color on a light ground and the dark value on a dark ground. Also use subtraction and/or complementary reaction if necessary.

c) Save an extra piece of each color used and place it as shown with your study. This will indicate where each color is placed and indicate the color differences.

Optical Mixing Studies

1. Analogous Optical Mixture (1 thumbnail)

a) Pick a pair of analogous or almost analogous hues (by skipping the in-between hue) from the color circle. Example: Blue and BG or red and violet.

The colors should be keyed to the same value as closely as possible. The value match will create a better optical mixture.

b) Make a pattern of stripes, dots, a grid or any pattern using equal surface area for each of the two colors. This will let them blend visually when viewed from a reasonable distance.

2. Complementary Vibration (1 thumbnail)

This visual mixture is the opposite of the analogous mixture.

a) Pick any dyad or complementary pair. Make sure that the colors of the dyad are high in saturation.

b) If you wish, use the same pattern(s) from the analogous optical mixture exercise and replace the analogous pair of colors with the dyad.

You should notice a strong movement or vibration if you look at this study.

If you view it from across the room, you will notice a change in contrast and possibly a neutral color.

Bezold Effect Study (1 thumbnail)

1. Plan a geometric pattern that uses four or more colors.

2. Choose two different grounds for your studies that substantially change the appearance of all the colors in the study. Try to choose grounds that are opposing light and dark values, complementary hues, or colors that are high and low in saturation.

The design should appear to be very different chromatically from one ground to another.

Make sure to let the colors in each design interlock so that the change in interaction between them can also be detected.

Simulated Transparency Study (1 thumbnail)

1. Choose at least four pairs of colors that you want to overlap in a design. Make sure each pair is a different type of color combination.

2. Design an image using geometric or organic shapes that overlap.

Pick colors that represent the in-between color for each of the four sets of parent colors that you have chosen.

3. Where the components of your design overlap, place the appropriate colors to simulate the illusion of transparency.

The ground color should be dark or neutral to accentuate the illusion of transparency.

4. Make an additional 5 thumbnails that combine multiple fusions of your previous experiments.

5. You will present your basic ideas to a "selection committee" (3-4 other classmates).

From your 5 thumbnail sketches, choose one that you feel is the best idea. Put all the thumbnails in your notebook for reference.

6. From your chosen thumbnail, make a larger sketch (one to a sheet of biology paper) that expands on your thumbnail idea. Add detail, use color, and think about what media your final project will be produced in. Practice with that media on this sketch. It may help to make this sketch directly onto a printed picture of your site.

7. Evaluate. Step back and consider the sketch objectively. As you find areas of deficiency, go back and rework to solve any design problems you detect.

8. Begin on final. Use the sketches as models for the final piece. When making the piece, allow yourself to deviate from your plan if you discover something new and exciting. Your challenge here is to keep the process open to growth and expansion while still benefiting from the extensive planning you have already done.

9. Hand in a proposal packet that includes:

a) 1-page description of your proposal, explaining key ideas and how they relate to the site.

b) The final proposal image.

Critique Questions for Suggestion

1. Can you describe this work using at least 3 vocabulary words from this unit?

2. What is the initial "feeling" or emotional response you get when first viewing this work?

3. What color relationship strategies were employed by the artist?

4. Does the research presented help the viewer to understand the intent of the artist and the significance of the

work?

5. Does this work successfully address the challenges of doing art in a "public" setting?

Notebook Checklist 
□ Cleanliness and Organization
□ Turned in on Time

□ Discussion Page on Albers & Relational Color

□ Project Objectives

□ Concept Page on Art for Hire
□ Vocabulary

□ Research

□ Thumbnails

□ Proposal package