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Sharon Knettell · 01-13-2003, 09:38 AM

I do know one. He is a friend of mine.

We both studied under the same teacher in Providence RI, Eugene Tonoff. Bill does the most sensuous, unexpected color compostions. He does mostly non-traditional florals. I was totally desperate about a background color on a piece to be in Ladies Home Journal. He nonchalantly ripped off a piece of light green toilet paper and said "here, this should work"! It was perfect!

The only color theory he and I learned formally from Eugene, was complementary colors and to study the color relationships in Persian miniatures and Japanese and Chinese art.

I do not personally use the color wheel, but I use fabric, scraps of paper, anything to come up wth a color scheme. It has to vibrate. It is viceral and intuitive. You cannot reason your way through a color scheme. Color is beyond reasoning, it is emotion. This may sound silly to some, but you have to be completely there when you are working, you have to be the color. For some this may take years, others immediately, some never.

If you note the background on Persian miniatures, they are neutral, that is why they can combine so many colors sucessfully. I have bought some Chinese antique silk textiles, the colors are amazing and seem to defy all laws of color.

I don't mind, or advocate the Munsell or any other system, based on temperature or otherwise. I personally find them confusing. I don't think the artists of the Ming dynasty or Persian miniatures had color wheels or had a knowledge of color temperature. Those studies were done in the late 1900's. I don't think even the impressionists had them, maybe a color wheel.

I will take a day or more sometimes to just get a background color right. Sometimes minutes. A little pthalo, a little alizarin, perhaps some white, a touch of cadmium. It is like music.

Sincerely,

01-13-2003, 09:38 AM	#14
Sharon Knettell Approved Member Joined: Sep 2002 Posts: 1,730	Color geniuses I do know one. He is a friend of mine. We both studied under the same teacher in Providence RI, Eugene Tonoff. Bill does the most sensuous, unexpected color compostions. He does mostly non-traditional florals. I was totally desperate about a background color on a piece to be in Ladies Home Journal. He nonchalantly ripped off a piece of light green toilet paper and said "here, this should work"! It was perfect! The only color theory he and I learned formally from Eugene, was complementary colors and to study the color relationships in Persian miniatures and Japanese and Chinese art. I do not personally use the color wheel, but I use fabric, scraps of paper, anything to come up wth a color scheme. It has to vibrate. It is viceral and intuitive. You cannot reason your way through a color scheme. Color is beyond reasoning, it is emotion. This may sound silly to some, but you have to be completely there when you are working, you have to be the color. For some this may take years, others immediately, some never. If you note the background on Persian miniatures, they are neutral, that is why they can combine so many colors sucessfully. I have bought some Chinese antique silk textiles, the colors are amazing and seem to defy all laws of color. I don't mind, or advocate the Munsell or any other system, based on temperature or otherwise. I personally find them confusing. I don't think the artists of the Ming dynasty or Persian miniatures had color wheels or had a knowledge of color temperature. Those studies were done in the late 1900's. I don't think even the impressionists had them, maybe a color wheel. I will take a day or more sometimes to just get a background color right. Sometimes minutes. A little pthalo, a little alizarin, perhaps some white, a touch of cadmium. It is like music. Sincerely,