Color constancy is the psychological tendency to see colors we expect to see even when the actual colors are different. Dr. Betty Edwards explains this phenomenon in her book Color: A Course in Mastering the Art of Mixing Colors. For example, place an orange under a light like a study lamp. Is it really all orange? No. In reality, there is an almost total white spot from the light shining on it. On the shadowed side, the orange is closer to a deep red-orange or brownish orange. An artist must learn to see the real colors produced by the light on the orange while setting aside the color their brain tells them the orange is.
A familiar example of this type of study is Claude Monet and his haystacks. Each day he took ten or more canvases to work on. As the light changed, he set aside one canvas to work on the next one. Each canvas showed the different effects that the changing light had on the colors of the same objects. The difference was in the hues of the colors. Our brains like efficiency. They tell us that we are looking at what we expect to see unless we concentrate on seeing what is, in fact, there.
How does one break through color constancy to see correctly? The author and teacher, Betty Edwards, suggests scanning an object by looking through your curled fist at a small portion of the object. Note where the lightest hue is located, the position of the darkest hue, and finally, where the brightest hue shows up. Try this with an egg, apple, baseball, or tennis ball.
J.M.W. Turner, a 19th century English painter, would turn around and look backwards through his legs in order to overcome his color constancy. I tried this, but it gave me a headache by the time I had identified what I needed to know! Your kids may like this method, though.
If you have a serious student gifted in art or a child who wants to go deeper into art theory, try Color as part of your drawing or art curriculum. Her book takes the student step by step through mixing colors, the attributes of color, using a color wheel, harmony with color, and even understanding your own preferences in colors. Exercises in mixing and painting with color are found at the end of each chapter.
Whether using the Charlotte Mason, eclectic, classical, or relaxed homeschooling method, you may enjoy reading the last two chapters entitled "Seeing the Beauty of Color in Nature" and "The Meaning and Symbolism of Colors" to enhance your discussions while enjoying art or nature study.
I truly enjoyed this book and feel it changed the way I now see color in things around me. From our tortoiseshell cat to a deep purple iris with a cream center that poked up in our garden, I have enjoyed "seeing" more color where I only saw a black and brown cat and a purple flower before.
Two of my three kids have used this book to make the transition from drawing to painting. One, the more serious painter, has since gone back to it and her miniatures of flowers have a depth and warmth that was not there before. Perhaps an understanding of color is all your artist needs to take their art to the next level!
Robin
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