Artists & Illustrators – September 2019

COMPOSITION

theyplayedwiththegrammar

ofpainting,theirconciseand

experimentalvisuallanguage

deservesthetimetoaffectyou

emotionallybeforebeing

deconstructedintellectually.

WhenwecometolookatIvon

Hitchens’workthrougha criticallens,

wemustbringanunderstandingof

thefundamentalprinciplesofcolour

theorytobearonhiswork.Regardless

ofwhetherornotHitchensused

formalknowledgetohelphimproduce

hispaintings,orreliedonhisintuition

whenit cametopalettechoices,an

understandingofcolourtheorycanbe

helpfulinrecognisingwhathedidand

applyingthoseprincipleseffectivelyin

ourownwork,withoutsimplyimitating

whatwehaveseen.

BALANCEOFPROPORTION

Whetheryouareplacingand

combiningcoloursintuitivelyonthe

canvasorcarefullydesigningthe

colourschemeofanimage,effective

colourcompositionreliesonbalance

• balancebetweenthelights,
  mid-tonesanddarksinanimage;
  balancebetweenthecontrasting
  hues;balancebetweenintense,
  saturatedcoloursandtheirduller
  desaturatedcounterparts.
  Inthe 1933 paintingSpringMood
  No.II, Hitchenscreatesa harmonyof
  desaturatedcolours– relativelydull
  greensandred-brownsthatare
  punctuatedbydotsofbrightred
  andintensestrokesofturquoise.

Oneofthecleverestaspectsofthis

paintingis thewayHitchensuses

thesestrong,contrastingcoloursto

balanceanunstablecompositionof

shapesandtones.Stareattheblack

andwhiteversionofthepainting

[above]fora littlewhile:theshapes

andtonesareallcomposedona

diagonalwhilethewholepicture

slopesofftotheright;eventhe

stabilisingverticallinesatthetop

ofthepictureareslantingaway.

Whenseeninmonochrome,our

eyeeasilyfallsofftherightsideof

thecanvas.Inthefull-colouroriginal

howeverthesaturateddotsofredand

vibrantturquoiseinthecentre-left

pullsoureyebacktothemiddle.

Theseintenseandcarefullyplaced

coloursstopoureyedriftingtothe

side,whilethediagonalsofthe

compositionkeeptheotherwise

staticstilllifesubjectfeelingdynamic

andexciting.

In your own work...

Beforeembarkingona largepainting,

it is a goodhabittomakesmall,

simplifiedcolourstudiestotestthe

colourschemesina pieceofwork.

Useit totesthowcombinationsof

coloursmightbalanceonthepicture

plane,withoutbeingdistractedbythe

subjectivecontentofthefinished

Hue:Theparticularcolouralongthespectrum.

THREE CONSIDERATIONS WHEN

MIXING A COLOUR

Saturation: The intensity of a colour.

Tone : The relative light or darkness of a colour.

RIGHT Ivon

Hitchens’ Spring

Mood No.II seen in

black and white

RIGHT Ivon

Hitchens, Spring

Mood No.II, 1933,

oil on canvas,

71 x101cm

PALLANT HOUSE GALLERY/JONATHAN CLARK © THE ESTATE OF IVON HITCHENS