Thursday, November 7, 2013

Colorwork Meditation #11

Photo Credit:  http://jaimejofisher.com/favoritethings/inspired-by/1588/

"The man who can see all gray, and red, and purples in a peach, will paint the peach rightly round, and rightly altogether. But the man who has only studied its roundness may not see its purples and grays, and if he does not will never get it to look like a peach; so that great power over color is always a sign of large general art-intellect."      
              ~ John Ruskin, 19th century English romantic writer and painter

I also quoted John Ruskin in my Colorwork Meditation #6.  I will admit that he sounds a bit pompous in the quote above... but I do remember when I first really noticed the redness of tree branches in April, and I do remember when I really could see that all grays are really lavender-grays or green-grays or whatever-grays... I believe that it is a gift to all who love color that we can see "all gray, and red, and purples in a peach".

Do you know what I mean?  Do you agree?

Previous Colorwork Meditation: #10 (Water)
 

3 comments:

  1. My cousin Leslie is a portrait artist. She sees the greens and blues and lavenders in the faces she draws. That critical eye is as gift. I can draw in black and shades of gray, but color escapes me. Faces, peaches or just anything ... Seeing what is actually there rather than what the brain tells you is there is an amazing thing.

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  2. The impressionists painters picked up so much colour. I love Monet's paintings. To me he was a master at rendering so many shades of colour.
    As I've grow older, I see more and more colours. Perhaps because I now take the time to stop and really look at the world around me, but I'm sure I still miss a lot.
    An enjoyable post...

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  3. The quote is a life analogy to be sure!

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