Over the years I have been asked a great deal of questions regarding my navigation of color within the painting process. As many of you have come to know, (especially since the Language of Painting DVD series release), I have always favored the more abstract Itten Wheel (IW) over more robust color systems/models. I do face occasional criticism over my decision to embrace this somewhat generic abstract—but let me briefly address why I do here.
First—let’s define what the IW actually is. The Itten Color Wheel (IW) or Color Circle is an abstract illustrative organization of generic color intended to illustrate basic hue relationships. Most of us have been taught this basic color chart during primary school. Itten’s Wheel contains twelve hues: three primary, three secondary, and six intermediate colors. While the configuration of hues populating IW is not an accurate depiction of what many understand as ‘colorspace’, the adaptive abstract allows the observer to make reasonable predictions regarding the general behavior of available pigments.
I use the Itten Wheel on a daily basis as a rudimentary compass. It can offer a relative frame of reference by which I can make informed decisions amidst either a pedantic or organic painting process. I can look to any color I am working with—and within the framework communicated by the IW, I can navigate with reasonable success.
I think that it is very important to understand that IW it is not a comprehensive map of colorspace—nor is it a metaphorical GPS device as some tend to imply. Criticizing IW in this manner is like saying that a tape measure is flawed as it does not hammer nails well.
For those unfamiliar with Johannes Itten:
Swiss painter and teacher Johannes Itten was a pivotal member of the Bauhaus, Germany’s most influential art and design school. Founded in 1919, the Bauhaus School primarily focused on expressionist art, design, and architecture. His color wheel was a departure from the color wheels employed at his time. Many contained too few or too many colors, making it either difficult to find the connections between hues, or too complicated and rigid to facilitate instruction.