Art 2552 (LSU)
ART 2552 examines color as a functional design element of perception and visual communication. In this course we study the history of color classification as well as the natural and cultural significance of color. Students learn common terminology used to categorize and describe color, and how to work with color using both pigment-based and digital methods. Students gain experience in choosing colors and palettes to effectively communicate a message.
Studies
Painted Color Wheel
A traditional RYB color wheel made with acrylic paints to reacquaint students with the basics of color relationships.
Painted Value Study
A traditional RYB + gray value study made with acrylic paints to help students recognize the inherent value of colors and practice mixing tints and shades.
Painted Hue Study
Students photograph a banana over a 5-day period, looking for subtle shifts in hue. Each day they capture a 3-color palette based on the banana’s dominant and accent colors.
Digital Atmospheric Perspective Study
Students choose a base hue and adjust brightness and saturation to imply distance to a templated landscape scene. Students develop the skills to choose colors with precision in Adobe, and understand how to use atmospheric perspective in digital artwork.
Pixels & Palettes Digital Study
Students select an image to study and submit the title and artist/source. They manually simplify the image down to a 12×12 square ‘pixelated’ image. Then they simplify again to a 6-color proportional palette. We discuss an artist’s process of selecting, expanding, honing, and applying a color palette; this study approximates a reverse of the artist’s process.
Projects
Seasonal Palettes Project
Choose a theme: something that changes with the seasons. Use a 5-color proportional palette to represent that theme for each of the 4 seasons. Each color must include a label with CMYK, RGB, and HEX codes. Each palette should make use of tint, shade, and saturation to achieve an overall visual harmony.
Book Covers
Book covers give readers a small peek into what they’ll experience in the story. For this project students design four covers for a single book. They each select a book which is in the Public Domain. Students then use color to communicate a message to the reader about plot, character, or emotional tone. A gridded template is provided for the first three covers. Cover #1 uses only one hue, #2 uses only two hues, and #3 uses only three hues. Cover #4 is a wild card—any combination of hues is fair game and students may use whatever media they prefer. This project gives students a chance to apply their new knowledge of color psychology and geometric abstraction, and to explore how color can help set a tone and tell a story.
