Red = Green: Color Lines: An experimentation in using color and my visual perception

At first glance these studies appear to be a color theory assignment, or an attempt to create color swatches or paint chips like those found at hardware stores. I am colorblind. These studies have been an experiment in using color, and recognizing my own limitations and perceptions when using them. I generally make works in black and white or with a monochromatic scheme since my eyes can understand gradients and shades quite well. Color is a different issue. In the past when trying to use color my saturation levels were always off, or I would use a “wrong” color when thinking it was the “right” choice. I have always shied away from using color for fear of being “incorrect,” and the frustration of never knowing what the outcome truly looks like. This was an experiment—with no right or wrong—in using color and observing the way they change when added together. Some remained the same while others resulted in different shades of the original color used.

I used a standard principle set of 12 colored pencils. I used a single line format to systematically keep track of the colors used and combined. The base of each line consists of the same 12 basic colors; then a solid coat of one of those colors is applied across the entire line. I used colored pencils rather than paint because I felt that I had more control when over the application of each color, and that it maintained some of the integrity of each individual shade when layered instead of the pigments mixing together.