Day 12. Contrast
“Asking to be Seen” 6×6, oil on canvas, framed
I think about color a lot– when I’m cooking, getting dressed, taking a walk, even when I’m trying to solve a problem. When I teach painting, I always start with the color wheel because it holds simple truths most of us never really learn. The colors opposite each other are called compliments. They contrast each other, making the other stand out. They can also subdue the intensity of one another when mixed, creating a whole spectrum of rich hues and values you simply cannot get by just by adding either black or white.
Art, in all its many forms, feels most important in uncertain times. I wonder what it would look like if we took some cues from the color wheel, went back to kindergarten, and did some finger painting.
Politicians Should Learn to Paint
Black and white are overdone
In even a beginner’s class they’d learn
The color wheel, devoid of both,
Finds contrasting colors on its opposite sides
Green across from red
Blue from orange
Purple from yellow
After several sessions, we’d ask the group:
Now class, what do we call those opposites?
In unison they’d sing the answer
annunciating every syllable:
Comp-li-ments
Maybe if every time they used harsh black lines
To form colorless cartoons
We’d gently say, “Try again”
Give them three squirts of paint on a paper plate
Near a window
Where a cardinal, red and shining
Arises from the green brush
Wings outstretched,
Asking to be seen
Denise Hopkins
January 12, 2025
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