Parts of Art

         Symmetrical balance in visual art is design that has equal areas on both sides of a central line. It may be equal color value, equal amount and kind of ornament, or equal size and shape of components.        Perfect symmetry is a mirror image, where two sides are separated by a central axis and one side is the exact opposite of the other. The best example I know of to show perfect symmetry in an art form is the majestic Taj Mahal.          Here is another example of formal symmetry as an art form, although it is not quite as formal. It is still symmetrical but with variety on each side.  We are symmetrical beings. Our physical bodies are perfectly balanced by the central axis of our spine, with the same components on each side of that axis.  We are designed with symmetrical balance, and so we seek balance in our li...

   Several years ago I was participating in an art show in Delray Beach Florida. What I sell is jewelry which I make from the dried acrylic paint from the artist palette.  During the show, a woman walked into my booth and was studying my jewelry pieces. I mean, really inspecting them more closely than the typical customer. I started to share with her my story, how I start with the palette and go from there.  She listened, then said “Yes, I can tell they’re made from paint. I make paint.” Well at first I wasn’t sure if I heard her correctly, not having ever met anyone who makes paint. Then she introduced herself. “I’m Barbara Golden.” To me this was akin to meeting a Hollywood star! I had a celebrity in my art booth! She went on to tell me about some of the more interesting and unusual applications artists have found for Golden Paints.  She later came back to my booth and we had a delightful conversation about ...

                                                                                    How do you make gray? Well the obvious answer is to mix black and white. But then how do you get a reddish gray, a bluish gray or a warm gray? I was once commissioned to make a detailed color chart for a color consultant. That was when I learned how to make gray.          For those of you not in my age range, let me explain. Back in the 80's, everyone was getting "their colors done". You were analyzed as being one of the four seasons, as far as the colors that look best on you. The palette was based on your skin tones and the color wheel.  The left side of the color wheel is the cool colors, or the winter palette, and the right side is t...

      So what do you do when you are an artist and you find yourself away from your work, your home, your husband, your cats and your art studio for several weeks because you are called upon to care for a loved one who is recovering from surgery? When you are not making money or going to work, but being a caregiver for someone you dearly love, someone who is not in a dire life and death state, but who needs you all the same. 5 things to do while care - giving 1. Be the best caregiver you can be. Everything else can and will wait. Being the best means getting enough calories, sleep, and exercise so you can give of yourself. And lots of coffee.  2. Re-discover blogging. Need ideas?  Here's enough to keep you blogging til the cows come home: http://thecolorist.blogspot.com/2011/09/101-artists-blog-topics.html 3. Spend time drawing every day. Drawing could be doodling while on the phone, doing quick sketches for that collage you've always wanted t...

"There are hidden harmonies or contrasts in colors which involuntarily combine to work together" Vincent Van Gogh The color wheel is one of the most important tools for the artist. Start with the three primary colors: yellow, blue and red. These are primary because they aren't made by combining other colors. On the color wheel they are placed equidistant from one another. If it was the face of a clock, yellow is 12, red is 4, and blue is 8 o'clock. Simple. So if you mix yellow and red you get beautiful luscious orange. Two o'clock on the old clock/color wheel. Mix red with blue and you get beautiful purple. 6 o'clock. What's left but mixing blue and yellow and making a gorgeous green, which is 10 o'clock. Okay let's go back up to yellow. Going to the right around the wheel we have yellow, then orange. So what happens when you mix yellow and orange? That's right, yellow-orange! What about when you mix the next two colors, orange and red?...