The Harmonic Nature of Perceptual Color as a Technique of Painting

The Artists' Statements section ofLeonardo is intended to be a rapid publication forum. Texts can beup to 750 words in length with no illustrations, or up to 500 words in length with one black-and-white illustration. Artists'Statements are acceptedfor publication upon recommendation ofanyone memberof the Leonardo Editorial Board, who will then forward them to the Main Editorial Office with his or her endorsement. THE HARMONIC NATURE OF PERCEPTUAL COLOR As A TECHNIQUE OF PAINTING Stephen Auger, P.O. Box 1685, Santa Fe, NM 87504, U.S.A. Acceptedfor publication byJack Ox. Twenty years ago, I began an investigation into the physiology of color perception . This inquiry has profoundly transformed my expression as an artist. It sparked the desire to create light within my paintings and to express color as pure energy. My interest in the possibility of paint behaving as light led to me to study the history and evolution of color theory and the neuro- and psycho-physiological aspects of color perception. The result is an integrated system of painting that uses the fundamental frequencies of red, green and blue to create the neural sensation of the entire color spectrum. I have termed this phenomenon "harmonic color" (Fig. 1). Color perception occurs through the absorption of light by three cone pigments in the eye. The cone pigments are maximally sensitive at 426 nanometers (nm) (the blue pigment), 530 nm (the green pigment) and either 553 nm or 557 nm (two polymorphic variants of the red pigment). The blue, green and red pigments I use in this technique are as close as possible to the spectral absorption of the pigments in the cones of the eye. I refer to this palette as the perceptual primary colors. Because these colors have the synergistic ability to allow for the perception of the entire spectrum of color, I consider them a whole system, or a trinity. The significance of the trinity in the development of this work is far-reaching. It provides a context that has definite boundaries within which I can experience the whole. The basis of this technique is revealed through a system of color scales that desaturate the perceptual primaries in intervals. The intervals are based on a proportional relationship of saturations that are my visual interpretation of the golden section ratio, 2-3-5-8-11, which I find provides the greatest synergistic potential. Allowing paint to behave as light requires a different approach to color mixing than the traditional "subtractive " method used by most painters. Within this new structure, I create a palette in which I employ an extremely subtle phenomenon I call chromatic balance. This works by isolating each interval group of red, green and blue and balancing these groups both visually and kinesthetically. I accomplish this by first isolating the deepest interval group, whose saturations correlate with the proportional value "2." I begin blending this palette with red because in its most saturated state red has the least inherent chromatic strength. This saturation establishes the deepest level of chromatic intensity for the perceptual color palette. From this point I can begin desaturating the blue and green Fig. 1. Stephen Auger , Wave, oil paint on linen, 69 x 76 in, 1982. (Photo: Eric Pollitzer) This work is an expression of the harmonic scale discussed in the abstract . It is comprised of 15 serigraphs that depict the binary combinations of the perceptual primary colors red, green and blue. with a neutral white. I carefully balance them in relationship to the red with the sole intention of bringing them into a state of chromatic balance, or a state in which the unique chromatic energy of each point of the interval group is in balance and does not recede from or dominate the others (Fig. 2). From this position I move down the scale, systematically desaturating each interval group in relation to its appointed proportional position. The resulting color scale is then balanced to allow the formation of harmonic color. Blending color in this way requires deep concentration and color sensitivity . It is a very tedious process demanding close and exact attention to the slightest discrepancy. Curiously, in this context the human perceptual system is far more sensitive...