The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain - Betty Edwards [106]
The purpose, then, of constructing the color wheel is to set in your mind which colors are opposite each other on the wheel. Blue is opposite orange, red is opposite green, yellow-green is opposite red-violet. These opposites are called complements. The root of the word “complement” is “complete.” This means that complements form the closed system previously proposed by Dr. Peter Smith as a requirement for an esthetic response. Perceived together in proper relationship, complements seem to satisfy the needs of R-mode and the visual system for completion.
You can use your color wheel to practice determining which hues are complements. This knowledge should be learned so thoroughly that it becomes as automatic as 2 + 2 = 4.
Taking the first steps in color drawing
Before you begin, please read all of the instructions.
I will use the Degas drawing on pink paper (Figure 11-6) as the basis for instructions, but please choose any subject that appeals to you: a group of objects for a still-life drawing, a person who will pose for a figure drawing or a portrait, another reproduction of a master drawing, a photograph that appeals to you, or a self-portrait (the artist always has one available model!).
1. Choose a sheet of colored paper, not necessarily pink.
2. The original Degas drawing measures 16⅛" x 11¼". Measure and lightly draw with pencil a format of that size.
3. Choose two colored pencils, one dark and one light, in colors you feel harmonize with the color of your paper.
Some suggestions on this point: If your paper is soft blue, for example, choose pencils of the opposite (that is, the complementary) hue—in this case, orange. Your choice, then, could be flesh (pale orange) and dark brown (which is actually a dark orange). If your paper is soft violet, your choices could be cream (pale yellow) and dark purple (or burnt umber, which has a slightly violet cast). Degas used “soft black graphite” (which has a slightly greenish cast) for his dark tones, which he accented with black crayon, and a cool white to complement his (warm) pink paper.
An aside
An important point: have confidence in your color choices! Guided by some basic L-mode knowledge of the structure of color (for example, the use of complements), your R-mode will know when color is right. Within the guidelines, follow your intuition. Try out the hues on the back of the paper. Then say to yourself, “Does that feel right?” and listen to what you feel. Don’t argue with yourself—I should say, with your L-mode. We have limited your choices to three: the paper and two pencils. Given these limits, you are sure to produce harmonious color.
The brain’s “need” for the complement is most clearly demonstrated by the phenomenon called “after-image,” which is still not entirely understood.
To cause an after-image, color a circle of intense red about an inch or so in diameter. Make a tiny black dot in the center of the red. Make a similar dot in the center of a second, blank sheet of paper.
Holding the two sheets side-by-side, gaze at the red-hued circle for about a minute. Then quickly shift your gaze to the dot on the second, blank sheet. You will “see” the complement to red (green) emerge on the blank paper the same shape, the same size as the original red circle.
You can experiment with any hue, and your mind/brain/visual system will produce the exact complement of any hue. This is termed the negative after-image. If you experiment with two hues, both complements will appear. In some instances, the original hue (called a positive after-image) will appear as an after-image, but in the negative spaces