Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at 8:15pm

Palette by Gregory Gusse

Color crosses any barrier between rationalism and abstraction in art, any art, poetry, music, painting; any art. Color theory can take volumes or could simply be put as the relation of various pitches or wave lengths of light to each other, much like music theory.

In western music we use diatonic scales with various half-tones to produce “keys” or prearranged harmonious relations. The half tones are called sharps or flats depending on the relation though they are the same pitch or vibration. It is very much the same with paint. The visual art you pursue determines your primary colors; yellow, red, blue or yellow, cyan, magenta or red, green, blue. Since Isaac Newton we use a color wheel to define relations between those primary colors. The color wheel is usually broken down into secondary and tertiary colors, though useful colors are nearly infinite. All of which is used to produce harmonious relations.

And like music we use terms like brightness, depth, tone, vibrancy to describe color AND like music the same color can appear differently in its relation, much like the Key of G is warm and accessible while G-flat is deep and somewhat dark as in Mahler’s work, though, the B note remains the same, yet, sounds so different.

And then there is white and its inverse; de-saturation.

What I’m getting at is a thorough understanding of color theory is necessary for an artist of any medium. It must be understood to develop your palette. AND you must have a palette to be an artist; painter, poet, or banjo player. A palette is your signature and is an expression of your personal emotion.

A recognizable palette is a sign of a mature artist. That is not a remark of age but of confidence and understanding. Your palette is not a school issue, realists, cubist, impressionists, all require a personal signature. Local artist Shane Lamb’s work is very much realist, some would say photo-realist in nature, yet his palette, dominated by enhanced and de-saturated ceruleans, is instantly recognizable.

Talya Johnson occasionally gives seminars on color theory. She is extremely knowledgeable and an artist in her own right, give her a call and some money. Take some classes, read some books and develop your palette, develop your style, become a Mississippi John Hurt, Merle Haggard, Tim Napalm, whatever you wish your style to be, make it recognizable, make it you.