Luminosity with Yellow and Violet

Johannes Itten, the Color Professor at the Bauhaus in Germany  studied simultaneous and successive contrast. His books influenced generations of modernists. He shows us  the differentiating effects of complementary colors when set against complements of equal value and equal area.  In my first example, an example straight from Itten, you see bands of yellow show  greater contrast when  placed over an area of  complementary(violet) color   than over an area of color of equal value which contains a quantity of that yellow (peach) or over an area of equal value which is not  directly complementary ( like green). See how the yellow bands appear to dissolve into the peach but, they separate from the violet areas, especially when the violet  offers a contrasting value as with the light blue-violet( mixed with white).

example 1. 

In my 2nd example you see Robert Natkin’s abstraction which depends upon a violet versus yellow contrast.  Natkin’s yellow shape moves forward toward us while the various areas of degraded gray-violet  shrink away.  He introduces a larger territory grayed yellow behind our  sharp yellow shape.  This dirty yellow field builds even more space by seeming to float in front of a neighboring blue-gray area and  a violet-gray area. Natkin tries to tuck the yellow shape back into the painting with an overlapping gray band along its bottom edge. But, we feel the yellow is trying to jump that gray fence.

example 2.

In my following  5 examples I demonstrate how to build a landscape using the yellow/violet contrasts.  When I wish to push the violet back I add other colors and white to the mixture. If I want the violet to be darker then, I keep it more saturated and less mixed.  I mix the yellows with adjacent colors of orange and  occasionally a bit of green.  For an analogous harmony I use light-blue against violet-gray as in the distant house  placed against the hillside.

example 3. is just yellow and violet at the beginning.

Where the yellow and violet overlap a muddier yellow green cast appears. This  overlap color sits in space between the foreground yellow and the background grayed violet.

example 4.  

Here the road is  brightened. Trees of violet and yellow are introduced. The pale blue house is introduced. It marries with the violet rather the yellow which helps keep it in the mid-background. It’s  position along  back edge of the descending road also places it toward the back of the picture plane.

example 5.

I introduce spots of orange which help carry the bottom of the picture forward.  I also intercut small tabs of blue gray along the distant horizon to carry the horizon further back and to separate the horizon from the forward trees.

example 6.  

At this stage the violet and yellow are offering greater complementary contrast which helps amplify the luminosity of the painting.

example 7. The palette for the preceding landscape:

Citroen yellow, vermillion, transparent red oxide,  Quinacridone violet, Scheveningen Blue Light, ultramarine blue, Gamboge and  titanium white. Mixing is illustrated. Violet mixed with white and Ultramarine blue makes a lighter opaque-violet which can be pushed down in  both value and hue or, similarly sullied by adding a bit of gamboge.

If you would like to preorder my 3 1/2 hour double DVD  on  Painting Skies then, go to  Kickstarter which is at  http://kck.st/x12ar3.  Here you acquire  this new instructional  DVD  where I provide demonstrations on  painting skies by the great English landscape painter J.M.W. Turner  as well as  17th century Dutch masters  and, contemporary  sky-painting techniques.  Visit Kickstarter for video explanation of the DVDs . There is also a link on my home page. The last example is demonstrated on the DVD

example 8.