2-D Concepts
Jeff Jacobsen (inst.)
11.23.2004
“Merging Colors: Conflicted”

Project Objectives:
The objective of this project was to create a complex composition utilizing elements from a 20th century artist’s work while using only two colors and their tints, tones and neutrals. 

Project Description:
For this project we had to pick an artist from a list of 20th century art movements.  From a selection of this artist’s works we had to create a composition that included a wide variety of shapes and contained little negative space.  We then had to select two complimentary colors which would be the base colors of the project.  The composition was laid out in a three by three grid.  Each square in the grid had different rules that controlled how the color was to be used within that square. 

Description of Solution:

I chose the pop artist Roy Lichtenstein for my project.  Lichtenstein’s designs have a large emphasis on color and form which fit perfectly with the project guidelines.  I created my composition from some of my favorite elements from his many works.  I particularly enjoy his works of female faces so I wanted that element to be the main focus of my work.  My choice of colors was driven by my decision to emphasize the female face.  I wanted the girl’s face to look realistic which led me to choose the color orange in order to get a flesh toned color.  Blue being the complimentary color of orange was logically my other choice.  I also felt that these colors helped to provide a good amount of contrast and give a distinct feeling to each side of the piece.  The orange gives a warmer feel to the woman’s face and the sunset.  The blue gives a more mechanical or harsh feeling to the plane, gun barrels and the barn.  I attempted to hide any signs of the grid system we had to follow by using colors that would fall into the set of rules for multiple squares.  I felt that this composition would be better served by not having abrupt changes in color, especially on the woman’s face.  Additionally, by not having these abrupt color changes, the piece more closely followed Lichtenstein’s style of using one flat color for each shape, surrounded by a thin outline.  I used the sunset and barn to create a believable backdrop.  However, I didn’t want this to look like a landscape painting so I oversized the plane, gun barrels and the woman’s face to make an unrealistic setting.  This is also intended to grab the viewer’s attention by placing a soft and inviting image next to a hard and harsh image.  Overall the contrast of size, shape and color help to create a complex and visually interesting composition.