More Than Color

The Starry Night is one of the most popular painting by Vincent van Gogh, and it's with good reason. The most stunning part of this painting is the sky, the way the yellow and blue swirl together to make an interesting combination of colors and an interesting interpretation of the sky and stars, as well as the bright yellow color placed around the moon and starts to create the effect of lighting. Yellow seems to play a big part on this piece since it is the light in a very dark night, making it feel somehow peaceful and peaks the curiosity of the viewer.

In contrast to Van Gogh's Starry Night, we have Li Keran's painitng. This painting also gives off a feeling of peace and serenity, regardless of the fact that most of the piece is red - a color known mostly for being shocking or electric or even used to emit anger. It seems this piece could almost be seen as monochromatic with addition of only black and white as other colors, which makes it very serene.

More than just a few colors, however, is not a bad thing. Redon's piece is filled with several colors that seem to be somehow worn out in a vintage look yet seem to pop off the page. The mix of pastels and vibrant colors give the painting a feeling of something like a dream land without making the viewer feel uncomfortable but curious, the clouds being made of several different shades to create the fluffy feeling.

Monet is another example of someone that uses several colors, and though Monet's colors compliment one another instead of contrast, it still shows a large range. As an impressionist, Monet's art is simply a blend of colorful brush strokes that create recognizable patterns that we see as a lake with water lilies on it, a very peaceful piece as well.

On the more shocking side is Munch's The Scream, that creates a sense of unsettlement through colors. The colors here contrast greatly, and without any line outlining any figure, it is only the difference between colors that creates the outline of the figures. Color plays a big role due to this, and due to the unsettling feeling it creates just through that - contrasting colors.

Contrast, however, doesn't always cause unsettlement. In this piece we see the contrast of red and blue, and somehow create a very soft piece for the eye of the viewer. It is key for us to notice that to create this piece, and when most artist use contrasting colors, there is never an equal amount between them, one color always prevails the other so it is not shocking or tiring for the eye.

Color can be used in all sort of ways, here in Courbet's art we can see how the light and dark colors work to make shadow or light on the several colors on the flowers to make them appear darker or lighter. Color is essential to a piece like this since it creates the feeling of depth.

Another example with flowers is Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida's painting. Here the simple use of color creates the images we see, much like in Monet's art, the impressionism is clear here. It would be hard to notice the different items in the painting without the range of color.

In this painting by Marco Gozzi the color that is most noticeable is yellow and orange due to it being sunrise. This is another thing that color is capable of, of creating mood, scene, time, or anything alike. This is why here we can see that it is sunrise or sunset due to the orange colors and blue sky.

Color, when used correctly, can create wonderful paintings. Color doesn't have to be a specific amount, as long as it's used in moderation and in consideration of other colors it can create a masterpiece much like we see here in Makovskii's painting. The light, the colors, the feeling all around is perfect, and all scripted through color.

Although there is little lighting used in this painting, it is still jaw dropping. The colors are vibrant and strong without being too dramatic or shocking to the eyes. Bright colors when used in contrast to darker colors make incredible combinations, much like in Ruysch's painting.

Dark and light colors can be used together to create beautiful natural sceneries. Roberts shows this will here in his painting which comes off more realistic than not for the style in which he painted it.

Light colors can also be used without too much dark colors and achieve the same effect it does in contrast. Here in Morisot's painting we see how she uses these pastel colors of different tones and shades to create a wonderful piece that catches the eye and makes the mind wander.

Here is another art piece where dark colors are barely used for anything other than for the shadows necessary in the painting to make it look realistic.

Lastly, this piece by Romero de Torres also uses several colors which he blends perfectly in a soft yet vivid painting.