Color is a function of light, Without light, we would not be able to see color. The color theory started with an experiment created by Sir Isaac Newton. He passed a ray of sunlight into a prism and saw that when light refracted, a "rainbow" of colors came out the other end. Colors absorb most of the light from its surrounding and reflects visual color to our eyes. For instance, when red and yellow absorb light, it reflects the color blue. What mot fascinates me about this action is that even though one color is absorbing light, it reflects a completely different color. Instead of yellow reflecting yellow, it reflects purple when it absorbs light. Another intriguing aspect of color is that our eyes are so dependent on color, we use color to determine what kind of foods we eat! In our textbook, it talks about a study where scientists colored mashed potatoes with green food coloring, and several people could not identify what they were eating. To see for yourself, watch this video from ASAP Science on "The Science Taste Challenge" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXtg-9Q6Iew. Not only is it hilarious and entertaining, you learn how important our sense of sight is when eating or drinking.
When we look at a color, we don't just think it's "pretty" or "ugly", we feel a certain emotion just from looking at the color. Our emotional responses to color are so strong, we fail to realize that these responses to color are both culturally conditioned and intensely personal. Americans, for example, look at the colors red and green and automatically associate it with Christmas. For some, like German painter Franz Marc, blue is a color of spirituality. I think we as a society can all agree blue is a pretty peaceful color. However, why do so many people say they have "the blues" when they are sad? It is all how one perceives the color and the personal connections to it. For many, orange may be considered a very powerful color that gives energy, and may not want to be surrounded by the color during a meditation process. I, on the other hand, have a very strong connection with the color orange and can be surrounded by the color any day at anytime. This is due to an emotional attachment to the color from my favorite toy growing up.
In the video of "color", one of the key points I caught on to was how lighting affected color, also affecting how one feels about the color. When artist June Redfern sketched her canvases in Venice, she was satisfied with how they turned out and how beautiful the colors reflected off the Venetian light. Once she went back home and placed the canvas sketches in her studio, she was not pleased with the results. She stated that "it must have been the lighting." In the video "Emotions and Art", 18th century painters David and Goya depict our feelings toward God and human emotions through their art. The biggest impact this video made on me was how these two artist brought reasoning and logic to religious art in a time where religion and God was the reason why. In medieval times, people suffered poverty and disease because of sin and because that was what God chose for you. David and Goya, through their art, say "no, no, no, we suffer from poverty and disease because of human behaviors, decision, and nature. We feel suffering not because God makes you feel it, but because you as a human feel these emotions from your actions. It really is a radical battle against Biblical ideology.
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