Altering my colour palette via an analysis of paintings from The Reality Exhibition

'My slight obsession—especially with this series—is flat color. How you can use one color that makes everything else sing. When I got the green in Lennie [2008, which refers to the main character in Of Mice and Men], it didn’t sit and it didn’t recede—it was just between. It did just what I wanted it to do, but I didn’t know what I wanted it to do until it appeared. It’s slightly intuitive. In a way that’s not lifting another artist, it’s just me being intuitive.'

Art in America, Dexter Dalwood, David Coggins, Jan 2010

Dexter Dalwood, Lennie, 2008, Oil on Canvas

I have been thinking about the use of my colour palette in relation to my paintings. My natural tendency is to use bright colours squeezed directly from the tube which are subsequently applied unmixed to the canvas creating a very pure, clean and bright colour ensemble.

I am wondering what the effects would be of changing or altering my palette by reducing the hues in order to create more of a naturalistic colour scheme. What are the implications of using bright vs naturalistic colours and how is this directly conveyed to the viewer?

'...in the end it all lies in the heaviness of the paint not in the lightness. The big dark or light areas become almost more important than the figure. I would mix up a bucket of yellow, and start by laboriously filling in... I don’t want to tell a story; the paintings I like best become abstract at some level... Sometimes it is all about a colour – a black or browny-black, then shadow.'
Bloomberg Space, Chantal Joffe interview, May - July 2004

 Within my more recent tondo collages I have attempted to reduce my palette using black and white imagery as well as tones which are more muted and subtle than many of my more recent paintings. This also corresponds to the change in aesthetic language which I have employed as a way of altering my visual style.

In a previous blog entry I have examined the use of colour directly relating to the works of the fauves, Pierre Bonnard and Peter Doig all of whom share an affinity for using bright colours. I am however curious to examine other contemporary practitioners for whom colour is an important element within their practice and the affect that it has on the way in which the image is interpreted.

'I try to render the membrane of oil paint as if it is an actual outer membrane of skin; in particular the semi translucent and smooth quality of it. The tondo and oval format further the idea of the body image as a complete world (rather than a small portion of skin that can be logically added to) and as an object which can be looked through. Warm and cool colours are juxtaposed and blended to create a subtle perceptual vibration, which makes the surface seem animate/alive.' Concrete, Portrait of an Artist: Gwen Hardie talks about her work an upcoming exhibition at the SCVA, Katie Kemp, September 2014

I took a second visit to the Reality Exhibition at the Sainsbury Centre with a view to examining the colour palettes of the contemporary painters who were displaying their work in order to see what impact this had on the subjects that were being portrayed, below are some of the notes I made alongside the individual paintings that I was observing:

Caroline Walker, Illuminations (2012), Oil on Canvas.

Makes use of a naturalistic colour palette, with a predominance of greens and blues, but also greys, whites, browns and reds. The viewer is drawn into the composition via the curved window situated on the right-hand side of the composition. The painting relies on flat planes of colour which are loosely handled in some areas but more detailed in others, also makes use of drips and smears which work as an effective contrast to the flat areas. 

Jock Mcfadyen, Tate Moss (2010), Oil on Canvas.

Paint is applied thickly to the surface of the canvas, using mainly browns and turquoise colours. Some areas of the composition are very detailed and precise whilst other areas are applied in a much looser and less meticulous fashion. The use of paint helps to create an impression of dereliction, which encompasses the theme of the subject. Browns and blues/turquoise complement one another effectively. The effect is exaggerated via the thick daubs on the building facade.

Chantal Joffe, Untitled (face) (1994), Oil on Canvas.

The Canvas is made up of reds, yellows, whites and black (small amount.) The composition is created using non-naturalistic colours, while the subject matter itself appears to be half formed. The white features of the face of the figure staring directly at the viewer appears to have only half formed features creating an impression of ambiguity or melting. Overall effect is disconcerting and uneasy, which is heightened by the use of non-naturalistic colour and the deliberate blurring of the features.  

George Shaw, Scenes from the passion (the path on the edge) (1997), Humbrol Enamel on Board.

A very shiny painterly surface helps to add to a sense of perfection. The colours used are very naturalistic, combining with the subject matter of a curving path and the fence posts minus the fence. The composition is mainly dominated by nature however the houses in the background and the fence posts combine to create a slightly sad, ghostly and brooding feel, compounded by the lack of people. Whilst appearing very lifeless the shiny surface gives off an appearance of perfection. 

Clive Head, Looking Glass (2014), Oil on Canvas.

Interior of a cafe next to a street. Colour exaggerated to a certain degree, makes use of strong reds, blues, greens and also oranges and pinks. The composition has the appearance of two photographs superimposed on top of one another. The faces and heads of the figures are pointing simultaneously in different directions. Along with colour scheme combines to create the effect of a reality that has been exaggerated. Seems although the painting captures a 5 second period of time rather than an instant in time. 

Anthony Green, The bathroom at number 29 (1979), Oil on Canvas.

The unconventional use of a non-rectangular canvas alters the viewers expectation of a picture composition. By using a (loose) diamond shape, it forces the viewer to take a second glance at what is happening within the composition. The very intimate domestic scene depicted of a wife bathing her husband is seen from a fly on the wall perspective which is strangely voyeuristic yet touching. The colour combinations of yellow, blue and white are mildly uncomfortable and garish exaggerating the voyeuristic element. 

Gwen Hardie Body 06.29.11 (2011) Oil on tondo, 03.30.09 (2009) Oil on oval, 03.20.12 (2012) oil on tondo.

The colours used are blended very smoothly on the canvas of the tondos and the oval which help to accentuate the ideas of otherness although being observed from a third party perspective. It is not immediately obvious what is being observed. The sickly, slightly garish nature of the colours are not totally naturalistic and it takes a while to register that it is the human body which is being depicted. The oval and round formats add to the impression that they are removed from reality as it is not apparent which parts of the body are being recorded. However the titles and further observation make is clearer. 

John Keane, Inconvenience of History II (2003), oil and inkjet on viscose on linen.

The composition makes use of naturalistic colours, however there appears to be a clear divide between the colours that are used in the background and the colours of the two figures seated in the foreground. The background is painted in a very loosely washed style while the figures are more detailed, creating the impression that the focus is firmly placed on them as opposed to the scene within which they are seated. The division between the foreground and background is further accentuated via the bright colours that are used to depict the figures plus the yellow and blue chairs upon which they are seated which contrasts with the background consisting of muddy browns and muted whites and greens. 

Dexter Dalwood, Grosvenor Square (2002), oil on canvas

Blacks, greens, blues and whites make up the composition. The paint is handled very naively, however the simple colours and forms make for a very simple and quick interpretation. A lack of perspective and also very little detail means that the scene appears to be very naive and rendered very simply and quickly. The composition seems much less formal that many of the other paintings in the exhibition, with the focus being on the statue at the centre of the composition, which stands out from the trees and grass on which it is sitting. 

David Hepher, Tree 2010-11, oil, acrylic, inkjet and concrete on canvas x3 panels.

Very large painting, roughly 6m wide and 2m high. Very muted colours have been used which combine well with the thick use of paint, the concrete and the graffiti sprayed on to the surface. Title of tree seems to be ironic as the majority of the composition is made up from a council estate and flats. The subject matter is very bleak and would appear to correspond more to urban deprivation or poverty than the tree. The tree depicted has no leaves, which when combined with the materials used and the use of graffiti adds to the overall bleakness and depravity of the scene.

For each of the artists which I have observed within this exhibition colour plays a significant role within their work. It is worth noting that it is not only the colours being used that are significant but the interplay between the colouration, subject matter, application of paint, scale and the attention to detail with which the paintings are treated. In Caroline Walker's painting: Illuminations, she makes use of a naturalistic colour scheme. However it is the peculiarity and voyeuristic element of the women standing behind glass that makes the viewing experience uncomfortable. We the viewer are on the outside looking in.

Anthony Green also provides a voyeuristic element within his paintings, although on this occasion it is a domestic scene that the viewer bears witness to and the intimate, touching affection displayed (we presume) between a husband and wife. In this case the colouration of the piece combines well with the unconventional use of a skewed diamond composition as a way of framing the scene. Rather than rendering the scene uncomfortable in the same way as Walker's piece the garish use of yellow and blue within the piece lends it a kitsch, unfashionable sensibility in keeping with 1970s love of woodchip wallpaper, artex ceilings and garish interior decorative colour schemes of the decade that the painting was created. In this instance we feel although we are in the room caught up in the display of affection and included as part of the proceedings. 

All of the paintings featured which contain the human figure employ some kind of pictorial device in order to accentuate, clarify or separate the figure(s) within the composition. John Keane renders the figures in the foreground of his painting in a much higher level of detail than the blurred background which he combines with a pronounced, elevated coloration scheme. This creates an effective division between the foreground and background concentrating the viewers gaze towards the two figures. Clive Head's painting Looking Glass treats the whole of the composition to the same high level of detail and clarity, employing a mildly exaggerated colour scheme, which combines with the visual impression of a passage rather than moment in time to create the effect of a photograph whose lens has been left open longer than intended to create an image with an abundance and overlay of visual information. Chantal Joffe's combination of non-naturalistic colour and naive rendering of the subject matter create a feeling of dislocation and mild unease on account of the familiar being presented in an unfamiliar fashion.