How does color affect a painting? What about shape and light? Can a piece of art change that dramatically with just a tweak of a basic element?
According to these three artists, yes.
Janis Sanders on Color, Shape, and Light.
COLOR - “What is that ‘it’ that makes a painting magnetic? That quest continues to be the journey of discovery in communication in paint in every new work. Whether in a brilliant, energetic patch of red on the wall of a fish shack," says Sanders. "Maybe it is a contained, condensed, and concentrated in a small format, bursting, or the majestic, serene presence of a solitary house at the coast in subtle tones on a large format, the chase and propulsion for the reach are parallel.”
LIGHT - "One main objective has been to explore, in oxymoronic terms, greater subtlety in conveying his sense and conveyance of light, atmosphere, air, and surfaces, like trying to catch a ray of sun in your hand," Sanders explains.
SHAPE - “Something new and intentional. A few paintings are borrowed from a modeling photoshoot in that the subject matter is explored from several views, angles, and perspectives. This offers a more comprehensive view of a particular place, beyond a one-shot view,” shares Sanders. “The solitary structures, regardless of placement, size, scale, or type, paint a pretty picture. I refrain from sweetness, nostalgia, and sentimentalization, and emphasize simple solitariness.”
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Adrienne Kernan LaVallee on Color, Shape, and Light.
COLOR - Color is a gift to human beings. We see color in ways most animals do not, how fortunate as it brings us great joy. The act of painting is my everyday celebration of being here and color is my elixir and the hero. Like most artists, I use color in a variety of ways from creating visual harmonies and evoking feelings of excitement and energy to simply using color in descriptive ways.. My color swaths, dashes, and dots in bright cadmium reds offer visual surprises and ways of moving viewers’ eyes around my compositions.
LIGHT - Darkness is the absence of light. Between light and dark exists all shades of grey. We refer to this as value. Artists use value to create illusions of a three-dimensional world by shading. Most important for my art is that light has a symbiotic relationship to color. Color needs light to be seen by humans. I use light in support of my color palette and to create a mood more so than creating volume.
SHAPE - Shape is one of the basic elements of art. Its use may be very literal, a contour of a known object, or mathematically inclined with geometric shapes. Perhaps it's amorphous, with no concrete definition like "going up in smoke". I think a lot about the shape of the canvas. It sets everything in motion. I enjoy using square canvases as the painting becomes as much an object in itself as a scene.
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Kathleen Robbins on Color, Shape, and Light.
COLOR - I try to push color as far as I can. Perhaps pair a bright pink with a greyish green. Color and value go hand in hand. Balance is important to achieve just the right amount of each. It's all a dance between the bright saturated colors of the rainbow and the beautiful complex grays and neutrals that make them all the more irresistible.
LIGHT - Light and contrast are the foundation for all good painting. When in the landscape I am drawn to moments that reveal a surprise of dark and light patterns that cause me to stop and look. I hope that the viewer of my paintings will also feel compelled to do the same.
SHAPE - I have always been fascinated by how one shape, color, and value can influence the other shapes around it. Shapes in the landscape have to be balanced and counterbalanced with others. Some might call this composition. I am always looking for contrasts. Whether that be a small shape in its relationship to a large shape, or a series of dark shapes that are placed in a way that the eye can travel through and around the painting.
Color, Shape, Loightruns through July 2 at 5 Chase Hill Rd in Kennebunk. All are welcome. Shows are open daily, 10 AM to 5 PM. FMI maine-art.com or 967-2803.