Quarter 1 Color Triangle

I created this work because I wanted to create a color wheel that was a little different than the traditional circle. Still, I wanted to keep it simple, so I created a triangle, since there are 3 primary colors, and 3 secondary colors. Also, everything is divisible by three, so I thought it would be pleasing to the eye if I created a triangle. In addition to the outside triangle, I put an upside down triangle in the bigger one to create the tints of all 12 of the primary, secondary, and tertiary colors. I put all the warm colors mostly together, the hot colors together, and the cold colors together and I expect the audience to recognize that. However, the change in colors doesn’t flow as easily as a circle. Everything that people make are made up of colors and everything in the earth is a certain color, whether it is an object or a painting of an object. So, a color wheel, or in my case, a color triangle, is used to compare the colors of actual objects to paintings that are being done, or in order to identify colors in any given painting or object. This applies to artwork I made with paint in school. Most of these artworks were self-portraits, and in order to make the painting as realistic as possible, I realized I had to mix colors in different levels to get the color that I need. So, I used the basic color wheel as a reference.

The color wheel is the base of all works of art, and many artists use a color wheel as reference for what the basic 12 colors look like. Therefore, color wheels have been used ever since the beginning of when art was first made. As far as work that is being made currently or in the past 10 years, there are many complex paintings and sculptures. An example of a contemporary artist who uses these colors is Frank Stella. In order for artists to make these artworks they have to start with the basic colors. The basic colors are found on the color wheel. I was inspired to do this interpretation of the color wheel by my own imagination. I didn’t look on the internet for any ideas, rather I just thought of different shapes I could do, and I came up with a triangle. Something I learned from doing this project is the ratio of the different colors. For example, if I am trying to make red-orange, I need to mix red and yellow together, but more red needs to be put in the mixture. So, the technique I learned is that you don’t need to mix red with orange to make red-orange, but I could just mix red and yellow together and simply put more red in the mixture. The technique of mixing paint is important to the work because I need to make sure the colors I mix are able to be recognized.