The first project for my Color Theory course was turned in about 2 weeks ago.  The instructor has promised that she will return the projects to the class on 22 Feb.  This is welcome news because I’ve been anxious to see her feedback.  At this point, however, I’ll put it out of my mind and will worry about the current project – a project in which I am behind on schedule but rapidly closing the gap.

The project core is to create a 3-dimensional color “wheel” using one of the properties of color – intensity (saturation), value (light or dark), or color temperature.  I chose value, with only 1 side of the value scale to be shown.  This is because of the size of the piece and the difficulty I would face in completing a full spectrum value scale in the time alloted.

Conceptually I wrestled with this one a little bit.  I asked myself how I could come up with a concept for a project that seemed nothing more than a technicial exercise.  I did it for the first project, but that was fluky at best.  As I was looking at my color wheel I saw the word “Primary” and then the light bulb started to illuminate my mind.  I thought of pyramids, and then went back a little further and thought of ziggurats.  Found chiefly in the Mesopotamian Valley, ziggurats were step pyramid structures that actually pre-date the pyramids (depending on who you ask, of course).  The top of the ziggurat would be home to the city temple.  These early structures were primary and are among the first architectural pieces that one will see in Art History 101.  Since the Mesopotamian Valley is considered the cradle of Western Civilization, it stands to reason that here is where the early human artists began to formulate a primary understanding of color.  I had a concept, now I just had to execute said concept (click on thumbnails for larger view).

I honestly don’t know enough about how ziggurats were built in relation to the rest of the city to really discuss.  I do know, however, they were usually dead center in the city (for better defense since the temple was the most important building in the city), so they would need to be dead center on the surface.  I borrowed from the Egyptians in that the pyramids were usually built in a careful arrangement. so I chose a north-south orientation.  Basically, we have the primaries – the primary colors coming from nothing (since white represents no color in the art world) decorating the earliest large scale structures that rise toward the heavens, the source of all color.  I think I may have gotten this one, but it will all come out in the execution.

Well, that’s it for now.  Enjoy this rare burst of productivity from me as I move full force into this project in the morning.  As for now, I need to make a list of materials and prepare to make a trip to Lowe’s in the morning.  Have a good night, everyone.