Monday, February 13, 2012

In praise of red

Are you attracted to red in art work? I find it impossible to ignore  red in any kind of design.  It is even more attractive to me when used in abstract or non - representational work.  When a work has little or no recognizable content, we automatically  notice the element that has the most contrast. Red is bold and grabs attention.

All of the works below have a neutral palette (mostly grays and black) with a splash of red that creates an invigorating composition. You may already be familiar with some of these artists, but I hope you find at least one that is new to you.


 Mary Ann Wakeleymawakeley - Variation on a Theme. On birch plywood, 30x30”

Fiona Watson,   Flight Paths. etching , 50 x 50 cm on 310 g Hahnemuhle paper



Judy Pfaff, ''Year of the Dog #6,'' 2009, woodblock, collage, painting, 39 7/8 x 87 1/8''.


 Günter Ludwig, “Traces”, mixed media



 Yves Cheval , Sans Titre.  Huile sur Bois 100x100 cm, Source



Yves Cheval, Sans Titre, Source

 

miniprint 005  by Bea Mahan, Source

Odilon Redon

Revealed – 60″ x 36″ by Nancy Eckels, Source

This week I am taken with the work of Yves Cheval. There are lots of secrets revealed in his work when you have a closer look. I'm always pulled in to work with subtle layers.







6 comments:

ArtPropelled said...

It all depends on the shade of red. I like a deep/almost burgundy red or a terrecotta. You've chosen a good variety of reds in this post.

Shayla said...

a fantastic collection, and yes I'm drawn to red. As soon as I glimpsed it in my blog feed, I had to come take a peek.

Carole Reid said...

Hi Margaret. I've read or heard somewhere that a piece of artwork with red in it will sell quicker than one without any red. I've experimented with that idea and have discovered it may be true!
Wonderful selection of paintings. Thank you.

Patrice said...

Absolutely. Red is the color I am most drawn to. I love saturated reds and tomato reds best and I often lay down red on my canvasses and panels as a first step that can never be wrong. Great examples.

Leslie Avon Miller said...

Red in a very small dose is appealing. All over red pushes my eyes right out and away to a calmer piece.
I hope I can leave a comment. The new word verification is very vexing. I can't seem to read those darn mangled letters.

M said...

So many great comments on red in art work. Like Robyn (Art Propelled) the colour red makes a difference to my likes. I am attracted to blue reds, but lately I've been using more orangey reds in my own compositions.

My gallery owner told me that art work with red in it sells - not that you would use red for that purpose. Carole seems to have heard/ experienced the same thing. I have sold all but one painting with red as one of the colour elements.

I think I may try Patrice's idea of beginning with a red undercoat and letting some show through in the painting. I've done this with orange, gold and purple different times but never red.

I can understand how some artists like Leslie like a small amount of red. If you are attracted to quieter more neutral work red can be very overpowering. I love the one I posted with just several dots of red with charcoal/black.