Edges

BThis assignment dealt with the concepts of disappearing and vibrating edges. This first design, when in proper lighting, fulfills this requirement fairly well. With disappearing edges, the further away you stand from the design, the more the figures tend to blend with eachother. In order to create this illusion, similar colors with matching light intensities had to be selected. 

This next design did not turn out as well as I had hoped. The orange and blue were supposed to vibrate, but I could not find an orange that matched the light intensity of the blue exactly. The best areas of vibration In this piece can be found where the violet and yellow greens meet.

Part of the projects specifications called for a transperancy or a color transformation of some kind. I had a difficult time trying to find a way incorporate a transperancy into this design, but I managed to incorporate the combination of orange and blue to make a reddish violet. 

This project helped me to gain a better understanding of color interactions and color theory. Through this project, I was able to use my previous knowledge of light intensity, hue ,and saturation, to create designs containing elements that blend with eachother, and others that shine brightly in contrast. 

Joseph Alber's color transformations

This project explored the interactions between overlapping colors to further our understanding in the concepts of transparency, color combinations and tones. 

The design on the left was the the first portion of this project and involved shifting tones. The objective of this portion was to create the illusion of transparency through shifts in the saturations of a two different hues with equal light intensities. The result created the appearance of a white overlay across the four different sections. 

The design on the right called for similar requirements to the first, but instead of shifts in tone, the overlay had to add color; all while remaining the same light intensity. I chose blue as my overlay color. 

The most difficult aspect of this project was creating a convincing illusion of transparency in the second portion of the assignment. In order to create the quadruple transparency, all four of the smaller color samples had to match in saturation to keep the for overlay grouped. In the end, I feel like that I did a good job on this assignment. 

Transparency

This exercise involved creating the illusion of a transparency. In order to do so, two colors of the same light intensity had to be selected. Once the two base colors were chosen, the color in the center had to be selected based off of the combination of the two base colors.  Using different saturations of the center hue, I was able to give the illusion of three different arrangements: A/B, A=B, and B/A. Below is an image of my first design for this project. This solution was fairly simple yet very effective in creating the illusion of transparency. 

This second design used hues that were not as basic as the first design. Using colors that weren't as pure turned out to be slightly more difficult, but it really brought out the illusion of transparency. 

The most difficult portion of this assignment had to have been aligning the center hue. In order for the illusion to be convincing, the center hue had to be perfectly aligned. 

This project was very helpful when it comes to understanding color theory.  Not only did it give me more practice  with color combinations, but also a better understanding in the way that colors can interact with eachother and create illusions of arrangement and transparency. 

Light intensity project

 

Using a variety of different shades of black and white, I created a gradient using small scraps of magazine paper. Before I began constructing this composition, I spent hours sifting through magazines, collecting a wide variety of different shades and paper types. Once I had a sufficient amount, I began to compile layers of magazine paper into a sketchbook. This was the most difficult aspect of this project. In order to make the light intensity transition smoothly, I had to stop and view my composition from a distance. Doing so allowed me to locate areas of the piece that made dramatic jumps that were much harder to see up close.

Part 2 of this assignment was quite different from the first. Instead of using small samples of black, gray, and white, this portion of the project utilized gradients in the transition between light intensities. Although this portion of this exercise used less material than the first, gradients are difficult to come by in magazines, adding a little extra challenge to this assignment. However, once I had found enough gradients, I simply had to arrange them in a manner that that gave them the appearance of a smooth transition between light intensities. 

Personally, I favor part two over part one. The compositions created from using small samples of color in part one have a very jagged appearance that, when viewed from up close, took away from the illusion of a smooth transition. Part two, however, can be viewed from any distance and give off this illusion. 

Overall, this project gave me a much stronger appreciation and understanding of light intensity and saturation. Before working on this project, "black was black, grey was grey, and white was white". But after spending hours flipping through magazines searching for a specific shades of black, gray or white, differences in light intensity and saturation become much more apparent.