HOW TO TURN THEORY IN TO PRACTICE

A gentle and easy way to get your head around the anomaly surrounding the union between practice and theory is easily examined by taking on the might of Colour Theory. Every artist has explored colour theory at some point in their career - well  - here I go again - as a painter let it be noted that there is not a day goes by where I do not learn something new about colour and so the theory continues.

Munsell, Goethe, Itten - we have all either read or explored their take on colour theory - what it is - what it means and how we can use it to establish a thorough understanding of the theory behind it.
Yes - the theory behind it - not until the artist sets up a palette - I advocate a limited palette - will they not only begin to understand colour theory, but by ' doing' it they will embody the experience of colour - its nuances - its properties - its texture - its transparency  - its opacity.

The key words here are experience - embody and most importantly - perception. We all see - feel and perceive colour through our bodies, meaning that we as individual will process and react to colour differently. The great news is that by committing to exploring colours unique properties and characteristics we shall not only develop an innate sense of colour - we will feel it and in doing so understand it implicitly.

A lifetime of colour engagement, love it or hate it will give the artist - painter bodily knowledge and a thorough understanding of what colour can do and what it can say. All of this embodied knowledge and experience can  be converted into works of art that speak,and can be read through a narrative of colour and spatial relationships. Just like words colour talks.

After of all of that - head to the studio, roll your sleeves up and put on your rubber or plastic gloves and start exploring colour -  and don't forget to notate your findings - thoughts and document your sources of course. Happy days are ones filled with colour.

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