Colour theories
Colour has always been a fundamental part of painting, it’s history is long and very rich, from the early cave paintings to today’s modern laser lights. Understanding colour, and how different colours relate to each other, is an important part of painting. Pet portraits for example, will necessitate the use of harmonious colours to produce the sort of result the customer will be looking for. Theories about colour and their meaning have been around for almost as long as the colours themselves however, there are no hard and fast rules about colour psychology. Different societies approach colour in different ways. For instance, black in the West is seen as the colour of death, in China however, the colour of death is white. However, we often look to the world around us for clues to the meaning behind the colours. Here are some common held beliefs on the psychology of colour:
Oranges and yellows are normally veiwed upon as ‘happy colours’, due to the fact that they symbolise the colours of the sun, and the sun is known to have a uplifting effect on us.
Green represents the colour of nature, and because of this is seen as relaxing and quiet, it also symbolises growth and life.
Brown is the colour of earth, so is seen of as dependable and safe.
Red is the colour of fire and heat, it represents aggressiveness, strength and danger. It’s an attention grabber, which is why it’s used on traffic lights to tell drivers to STOP.
Blue can be seen in the sky and seas, it has a reassuring effect and also represents space. Blues are commonly used as background colours because of their ability to recede when placed next to hotter colours.
Of course this is quite a simplistic description, as many colours can have elements of another within them. Yellow can have some blue in it, pushing the colour towards the greens, by doing so it’ll have some of the characteristics of blue. By contrast, yellow also can move towards the red spectrum, and be more orange in tone, so making it a more aggressive colour than pure yellow. An artist needs to be mindful of this and how colours can be arranged so that they create an image that can touch us on many levels.
