Color has an enormous impact on the emotions of individuals.
I personally believe that colors can evoke
emotion because humans subconsciously connect present emotions with emotions of
past experiences, and in turn, subconsciously recall the setting and color in
which they experienced that emotion.
Linking color to emotion and emotion to experience is something innately
human and biological. Artist June Redfern
believes that color keeps paintings fresh and alive, and makes her feel young. For June, painting is instinctual and
intense; it drives her crazy sometimes.
Colors can make paintings feel violent and depressing, or they can make
them feel optimistic and joyous. Artists
utilize particular color combinations to evoke the emotions that they want
their audience to experience. For
example, Van Gogh used clashing color combinations to make something feel
depressing and unnatural, and Rothko used bold reds and browns to make his
audience feel trapped and bricked into the Four Seasons hotel (which he hated). Other artists such as the early David and
DeGoya utilize color in order for their audiences to feel the emotions of
events of the time. Where David believed
in using color to portray nobility, glory, hope, and goodness, DeGoya used
color to emit feelings of negativity such as sorrow, pain, deprivation, and
evil. In the Color video, June stated that there is always a, “crisis point (in
her painting) where she has to get really irritated and frustrated with it
before it’s any good.” I found that to
be an extremely interesting statement, because she pointed out exactly why
color is so incredibly important to a work of art. The artist needs to love the color scheme and
the feelings the colors evoke, whether good or bad, in order to be ready to
show the work to the public. In the
Feelings video, Matthew Collings says something at the very end of the video
that is fascinating. He states that
people fear their own potential, and wouldn’t it be amazing if we were able to
raise ourselves up and be all that we can be.
However, the most thought provoking statement of Collings’ conclusion occurs
when he states that, “21st century people live in a world of
freedoms that were undreamed of in David’s time, but there is also a loss there
too because we’ve forgotten what it is to be great. We don’t really feel that loss until we’re
shown a world where greatness is still possible.” I believe that these feelings of loss and of
hope and aspiration that Matthew speaks of are quintessential to the foundation
of art itself. Art is there to help us
see our potential; what could be, should be, what was, and what will come to
be. Art is there to evoke feeling and
emotion; it requires thought and visceral reactions.
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