Phoenix 22 – 5

Published on March 11, 2010 in Art. 5 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

5th image in the Phoenix Series by Tyson Crosbie

Orange is my wife’s favorite

Color is an interesting element in formal works. Rothko and the other color field painters explored the element extensively. Creating palette and palette on top of juxtaposition and more juxtaposition, eventually becoming so dialed into the power of color that they could speak volumes with seemingly the bare minimum of other structure. We still use their language and don’t even think about it.

Palette

We all have a distinct color palette preference, some people even make a career out of guessing popular color trends. Typically we love primary colors, can’t help it for the most part.  Secondary colors are usually more partisan. Tertiary colors often balance or support the others and can make or break an argument. All that generalness aside I’d say our love of color is probably one of the most unique things about us. As I’ve seen couples argue over two shades of blue, or spend weeks deciding between bright vibrant colors or muted.

For me and this project I have to find my colors in the real world, I don’t alter what I find. This causes an interesting problem when color is the primary expression to the audience. I need to find my particular expression in the world on my path and created by someone else. Sure I might geek out about a texture repetition or a value scale but the audience sees the color first. And if they hate purple there is no convincing them of the beauty of the form nor is is worthwhile to argue that it fits perfectly with the narrative of the whole body of work. It is immediate and harsh the power of color to influence our opinions.

What’s your favorite color?

Participation

Buy a print of this image. Leave a comment on Flickr or Facebook. Tweet this post and share your thoughts about the image below.

Those that participate the most will win stuff! Up for grabs: a signed copy of Phoenix 22, a Tyson Crosbie Photography Tshirt (morse code), and several signed 5×8 prints.

  • http://www.iamchanelle.com/ iamchanelle

    my favourite colour is grey.
    not sure what that says about me, but there you go.

    i do really like that orange, though. and really, really love the lines and “pattern” in that shot. well seen tyson. :)

  • http://twitter.com/jamiemichelle Jamie

    I'm really enjoying your articles that go along with the images, so many things I never knew or thought about.

  • http://tysoncrosbie.com tysoncrosbie

    Jamie wants to tweet this but is too lazy to login.

  • http://tysoncrosbie.com tysoncrosbie

    There is a hint of repetition of those triangle forms that is very nice. It should create tension but the arrangement of color balances out the tension and makes it peaceful or dreamy to me.

  • http://www.echocoffee.com/ SteveBelt

    If you catch me at a glance, and ask, “what's your favorite color?”, I'll probably say blue. In my business office, I had to have blue in my personal office, and working with my designer, we settled on a sort of gun metal grey with just a hint of blue. I love the color for my office.

    These days, however, I'm particularly drawn to red. I'm currently thinking about color in my coffee shop, and by far, the highest priority is for me to find ways to introduce red into the shop, and still have it make sense. I find this odd, as until I was in my mid-20's, I didn't own a single article of red clothing, having always felt the color was too loud for me.

    At any rate, the colors in Phoenix 22-1, call loudly to me, while the composition of 22-5, enables me to overlook the fact I'm not a huge orange fan.