In this post, the topics covered will be key findings in the playful module of my masters degree and where my major project has used this research.
The playful module will show traces of my practice with the use of colour theory in illustrations and colour palettes. These images will show the use of colour theory in the narrative, using elements of how to incorporate stories as illustrations using colour theory.
The first part of this practice was playing with colours and emotions using Goethe’s colour theory and his findings on how colours promoted a certain reaction.
UPDATE: The colours presented onscreen will be different to the printed colours.
A quick key:
RGB = Red, Green, Blue
For printing: CMYK = Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key
Hue: garish colours RGBK
Saturation: draining of colour
brightness: how bright
affluence: add shades of grey
Mountains and the sun, changing colour as a variable.
From the image above Goethe suggests the colours from pictures:
Image 1 provokes a neutral reaction due to the equal use of bright and dark colours.
In image 2 Goethe would suggest an energetic feel due to the orange sky.
Image 3 is close to what we naturally perceive, leaving no notable response.
Lastly, image 4 on the bottom left with the pink sky can be seen negatively, given the context “the sky is pink” which may ensure a reaction of danger.
The points above are in reference to: https://www.brainpickings.org/2012/08/17/goethe-theory-of-colours/
Dark colour experiment.
Inking the outlines of the lighthouse to make the lines clearer on camera. This allows me to control colour as a variable to influence emotion. Using the Adobe Scan app to document my work as a PDF file is good for documentation. However, a JPEG/PNG is the best format for me to use the image for watercolour painting. Using the Paper app on the iPad.
After seeing how colour provokes emotive responses, I then questioned how to section off parts of the image and direct the viewer’s eye to key elements of the story. This is developing how a story is told through an image. (McCloud, 1994)
Continuing the lighthouse theme to explore colour theory.
Yellow lighthouse with separated images
In this image, colour is used as a way to define the main components of the narrative.
The use of blue-sea, green rocks and a yellow-lighthouse help to set the scene by creating blocks of separate colour that draw in the viewer. This is similar to what Scott McCloud states in the book Understanding Comics (1994) “colours objectify their subjects. we become more aware of the physical form of objects than in black and white” which uses colour as a tool for composition.
The use of colour helps the viewer to make meaningful links between the separate panels (bordered sections).
These meaningful links create a ‘narrative’ from the panels that are presented. These panels add further detail for the viewer.
The additional detail may lead the viewer more towards the artist’s intended meaning.
The viewer could engage with any of the visual components in any order to make meaning.
The weather panels are used as a tool to show that time is passing, e.g. storm in the top right compared to the calm sky bottom left.
The composition is an important part of this piece. The placement of panels gives context to the narrative so that the viewer can make sense of the story.
When viewing an image, a viewer chooses to interact by breaking down the composition, there may be a lot of information for the brain to process.
With only 3 main colours, breaking down the image into separate components could make it easier for viewer interaction.
In my opinion, looking around an image to tell a story is not the most interactive way of exploring a narrative, this will be explored at a later date.
Colour palettes that are emotive and test Goethe’s theory are found in this link: https://www.brainpickings.org/2012/08/17/goethe-theory-of-colours/ A brief summary of the link in regards to the colours used above. – Blue – “a blue surface seems to retire from us.” As an emotive reaction causes us to think it’s a positive colour but brings darkness. – Yellow – “In its highest purity, it always carries with it the nature of brightness,” Goethe says yellow is a happy colour, I think this is correct in my image. – Green – “The beholder has neither the wish nor the power to imagine a state beyond it” you are content when green shows up leaving a neutral emotive response.
This image as a stand-alone piece shows that a colour is a useful form of storytelling. However, I think the introduction of a character might help.
Introduction to zooming panels.
In terms of materials, using Posca paint pens is perfect for the low polygon art style due to the highly saturated colour, fast application and fast drying abilities.
During the process of this piece I found that:
When painting, then adding a felt tip is a bad idea because the paint bleeds, transferring paint to unwanted areas. A method to prevent this is to leave an area blank before painting or use a thick type of white paint as a primer.
I used the idea of “enhancing/zooming” into a moment on the left side of this piece, to try and direct the viewer's attention. It is an effective use for context (as to where the moment is located). However, it can make the piece look busy if used too often.
Three – dimensions
Why did I change the physical dimensions of my work? Well, I felt that the two-dimensionality of a flat image is not as interactive as a three-dimensional image. Having a physical artefact opens the opportunity for the user to play around with the story. I also found that using a smaller image gives the user more control as to what they look at, allowing the viewer to take their time when focusing on each illustration. This will allow the viewer to go through the process of interpreting a story showing the connection between story and shape.
When exploring 3-dimensional space, I did not want to have a static object as my subject. I wanted a story with characters that move around to encourage the reader to follow them on their journey. I combined my research on Goethe’s colour theory and McCloud’s “word about colour” chapter research for the next stages of my practice.
So I came up with the simple Cat and crow narrative, this being; the Cat loses its ball in the water and the Crow returns it. Below is a basic storyboard of the key points in the plot. Missing from the image below is the exploration of colour saturation, lower saturated images change the mood of a piece.
Cat and Crow watercolour story illustrated.
From the storyboard, I found I can reduce or increase the amount of “drama build-up” by adding or taking away more frames. For example in the image above in the bottom left corner, the bird reacts to the cat's loss. When that image is separated from the others, you build drama and tension by wondering what the Cat or Crow’s next action will be. However, removing that frame does not take anything away from the key plot points, it just adds tension. After re-evaluating the key plots, I separated and re-illustrated them on a net (image below).
Reduced saturation on a digital watercolour net.
Starting with reduced saturation, this image does not have too big an impact if the characters were extremely bright, or fully saturated. However, they are good indicators as to who is who, character-wise. The colours chosen are “natural” to add relatability. More details like textured grass or colour can be added to each frame to change the mood. Thinking about this piece in a 2-dimensional form you can see a clear pattern where the viewer's eyes can go. When in the 3-dimensional world this changes the viewers' direction because they cannot see the next frame.
The red ball or yarn is an important plot point as it is in each frame and is the story’s catalyst. This is why the saturation on the ball is not toned down, however, the opacity is on 50% so that it blends better with the piece. In terms of Goethe’s theory red is the contrasting colour to the ocean further helping the viewer isolate the key plot point in each frame.
Adding warm and cold tones to each frame changes the emotion. The contrast of warm and cold colours is a strong element in this piece because of the equal amounts of yellow to blue ratio on this piece as a whole. I found that each frame pushes the viewer to interact with the artefact, searching for the next panel until they find the “end” of the story.
Digital watercolour net 2: Emotion explored.
When evaluating the colour per frame, the differences in emotion can be seen by the saturation in the two different types of yellow and the different types of blue. An improvement to this piece would be to select a different colour in each frame, or at least have a significantly different colour in the background. This is for when the viewer may have trouble figuring out what is the beginning and the end. This is similar to film colour theory as briefly referenced by Andrew Price from BlenderGuru in his video, that show colours can show a mood or a setting. (https://www.blenderguru.com/tutorials/understanding-colors)
Whilst exploring temporary shapes for the artefact, colour and saturation strike again. However, this time without characters and more into the aesthetic nature of colour and direction in the three-dimensional space.
Different colour saturation levels of the artefact.
Comparing the two images above, whilst there are no characters and the image is basically identical, there is still a difference in the mood it creates. The lower saturated image appears glummer and the fully saturated image looks happier and brighter. This will be used in the frame-to-frame illustration as a tool for emotional emphasis. What I have not explored in this piece is the colour association, this will be reflected nearer to the artefact’s finalisation. Andrew Price from BlenderGuru highlights states that colour saturation and “value” are key elements to learn when making a piece. https://www.blenderguru.com/tutorials/understanding-colors
Cats exploring space (Colourful polyhedron)
Contrasting colours in my artefact are used to move a viewer's eye around a shape. I also wanted to test if drawing characters directly onto my iPad works, compared to drawing the characters directly onto the shape. This does not work because the scale of the characters compared to the shape distorts the perspective of the illustrations. This secures my tendency to illustrate directly onto the frame and allows me to evaluate the shape as I draw.
Drawing directly on the finished three-dimensional shape has been my chosen form of approaching the artefact. This is due to the difficulty in visualising the artefact when drawing on the net.
Three platonic solids in digital watercolour.
When drawing on singular shape-faces, I found that more detail in the background or to the character can be added to a frame. This can be beneficial to create more tension and drama as the viewer takes longer to move on to the next shapeface. However, the shape-face is limited in size due to the measurements of the shape-face. In addition to this, when using single shape-faces, you allow the viewer to make their own choice in the direction they go in.
Creating a single illustration over many shape-faces gives you the freedom to make a larger drawing. In the example below there is a section of water that both the Cat and Crow are reacting to from separate panels.
Digital watercolour on 3 platonic solids.
My findings from this stage of the research have explored combinations of colour saturation vs darker colours, 2d and 3d shapes and the effect that these can have on the viewer. An important element has been to investigate how elements of the image can be sectioned to influence the narrative. I have found that separating story images into separate shapes of the 2d net and then making this into the 3d object has been an effective method of achieving interactivity between colour theory and the introduction of stories.
The next stage in my research will be to explore narratives and define an illustration language for viewers, to help navigate the artefacts.