Color Theory

I'm practically a business and communications major. My major is Public Relations with a minor in Marketing. I've taken Economics, Entrepreneurship, Marketing and Business. While earning my Associate's degree, I took Honors Chemistry, and three semesters of Algebra. I am a studious individual and an academic scholar. So why is Art so friggin' complicated??!!!

I have to take an Art class in order to obtain my Bachelor's degree. WHY??? It's so hard!! The first assignment in the class is hilariously called The Fifty Shades of Grey assignment. Well where's the rich man and the whips and chains?? No where to be found. Instead I found myself at the bookstore spending $200 on art supplies. The assignment calls for 51 different shades of colors in between white and black...

Whaaaaaaaaaattt? I am NOT a detailed or meticulous person. In my mind there is only one color in between white and black... GRAY.... Hellloooooo!!!

Not true. Apparently there are at least 49 types of grey, hence the ever so intimidating grayscale. The only time I've painted on a canvas I was under the influence of alcohol. Don't judge me. You know they have those Wine & Paint events. You meet up with your girlfriends, bring your favorite bottles of wine, and drink while drawing.

Not the case here. I will be soberly, reluctantly, yet efficiently attempting to invent all of these shades of grey. Or gray. I've been watching YouTube videos in order to get a better idea of what I'm supposed to do. I even thought about recording my professor as he demonstrated the process in class Wednesday. There seems to be a fair amount of mixing, scraping, and narrowing of the eyes in order to observe the value of each color. Like I said, I'm really not into small details and analyzing little things. Therefore, this will be my most challenging course.

I was under the impression that this would be the class that I'd easily pass. I was sadly mistaken. I have no experience in art, and honestly no interest either. That's odd because I consider myself an artist, just not when it comes to colors, drawings and designs. I use words as my paint and audiences as my canvas. Big difference.

This class has given me a new appreciation for "artists." I was getting a bowl out of my cabinet and began staring at it. At first glance, I saw a bowl painted with red, green, blue, yellow and orange. But after attempting to paint my grayscale, I appreciated it's design much more. I wondered how long it took the artist to paint the  bowl. I examined the bowl and thought about why the artist chose these specific colors. Would he or she know that this bowl would be sold at a dollar tree? Or would the creator of this piece of art be embarrassed by that fact? How old was the designer? What were his thoughts while painting? Where did he paint it? What was his inspiration?

I know for a fact that some random person didn't just sit down and say, "Hey I'm going to paint a bowl really quick." I bet a lot of time and attention was spent on this project. Art is serious business and I applaud anyone who takes this craft seriously. I'm sure I'll never see color the same once I complete this course.

P.S. My grayscale came out better than I thought. I was proud of myself once I saw the final result. Even though it took me about 4 hours to finish it...