( Prime - page 2 of 32 )

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PRIME:  AN INTRODUCTION

          

        My studies in formative years, began in England in the late 1960s, when children were taught to believe that (pillar box) red, yellow, and blue, were the primary colours of pigment.  While I enjoyed using this restricted palette, learning to manipulate and control colour, I was unable to make, what was for me, a "perfect" violet or purple.  I believe it is time, to acknowledge that Art, and Science, have moved on, in this area.  While certainly, we may not all see colour in the same way, in our personal journey of its discovery; a consensus notion of primary colour, is in need of re-identification. This is my prime beef.

  

 

 

 

        Colour is capable of a number of definitions; for example, "a sensation which arises in the mind of an observer when his visual apparatus is stimulated by light of a suitable wavelength."  (footnote 1.)    Such definitions alone however, tend to offer only a superficial explanation of the phenomena.   It could be said that light may be projected to, reflected from, or absorbed by a variety of surfaces.   Artists through the ages have contrived to imitate the resulting colours produced, with experimentation and the application of various materials and/or available pigments.   Notably, it appears that a plethora of conflicting advice remains for those committed to the journey.   Ralph Mayer however, within his detailed and comprehensive technical manual for the artist  (footnote 2.) , provides reliable guidance in regard to a choice of palette, as follows:

        "The choice of pigments is entirely a matter of the individual's purpose and intentions.   It may be guided by the requirements of the school of painting to which the artist adheres, but it must be controlled by an understanding of the properties and potentialities of the pigments, each of which requires some study and experience." 

        We may not know where we may go on the journey, where such knowledge and wisdom can be accrued.   However, we should expect to be continually surprised, especially when observing new images, in terms of any chosen medium.   Whilst we may share a consensus of ideas, thought, and experience, we also need to be prepared to comprehend colour and light for ourselves, in lifelong pursuit, and personal journey of its discovery.

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