Making of Colour
On the 9th of August I
attended the Making of Colour exhibition at the National Gallery. The exhibition explained where colours came
from and how they were used during their popular time. It also showed how we perceive colour and how
the eye and brain work together to respond to colour. Each room had a different colour to explore
and learn about.
Blue
When the colour blue was first
popular it was very rare and precious.
For a long time the ‘richest blue available to painters was natural
ultramarine’, this was made from lapis lazuli which is a semi-precious stone. A few centuries ago, this blue was more
expensive than gold.
Smalt (which is a cobalt glass) is a
deep blue coloured glass when it is ground down as a pigment. This was used for pigment in paintings and
ceramics and was quite popular as it was affordable.
This picture
is of Joseph Mallord William Turner’s paintbox.
It is amazing that we can view objects like this in exhibitions as we
can get an insight into the tools that were available in that century. It just so happens that the housing estate
which my parents live on in Sandhurst are all road names named after
painters. There is one in particular
called ‘Turners Place’
Red
Red paints were originally made out
of vermillion mixed with oil or egg but they turned transparent. So thicker colour was usually extracted from
bodies of insects (blood) therefore, this is where I think this is why red
known for the colour of blood.
Gold/Silver
Gold and silver are not included in
the spectrum of colours. Gold was a very
precious material to use in paintings, and it was used to dignify images. Silver contrasts with the gold, unfortunately
it tarnishes to brown/black very easily.
I really
enjoyed this exhibition as it was big with lots of interaction. There were lots of pictures to look at with
colour description in each room, unfortunately we couldn’t take pictures but I bought
some postcards of the paintings to remind me of colour theory.
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