Art: Light and Color

Without color or light, art would be nothing; we wouldn’t be able to see or distinguish anything. Light allows us to see the space about something; when it casts a shadow on something we know the size of something. Without color we wouldn’t be able to differentiate between anything. It allows us to see the edges of something which in turn allows us to form the relationships in size and space. Colors can also be used to accomplish a diverse sense of feelings. For example, artists can use colors to add temperature or feeling. Light and color, when used properly, add many aspects to art that would not be achievable in any other means. Light helps us to understand the world’s spatial relationships, and because of this artists look to employ its effects in their work. Interior designers, for example, need to pay special attention to light as improper lighting or color may sabotage the whole feel of a room or dissatisfy a customer. Using light properly can give something two dimensional, almost tangible space. Leonardo da Vinci was the first artist to pay close attention to the affect light and humidity plays on objects when they are far away; now called atmospheric or aerial perspective. One of the more prominent ways artists will utilize the effects of light is in chiaroscuro. Chiaroscuro is the balance of light and shade within a picture, the gradual change of light to dark can be used to create shapes, especially so in the case of spheres. The wide variety, of colors, shades and hues are used to achieve numerous effects and feelings. An analogous color schemes are those that are made up of neighboring colors on the color wheel; these are often organized according to their temperature. We commonly associate warm colors to be yellows and reds and cool colors to be greens and violets. Artists often comprise their art of these conflicting temperatures to create a diverse physical feeling within the viewer. Light and colors are extremely versatile tools that can