Kelly Towles: Color

In a continuation of my new project, painter Kelly Towles of Washington, DC, shares with us thoughts on "color." If you are an artist, or know an artist, who would like to participate in this effort, please email me.

Previous Posts:
Charles Neenan: Tradition

Dreamy Confrontation
Mixed Media on Wood
24" x 24"

Kelly Towles: Color

Given such a powerful word like color, describing or talked about in my work, makes me personally bring up the word passion in my head. I feel very passionate about my work (as does any artist). I use my colors for a basic format, uncomplicated, relatable, and pretty rough, but still with the vibrant passion that I feel my life is going through at the time. Now when saying vibrant, I don’t necessarily mean bright. Color is moving in any shade, just as my emotions come in every shade.

In most of my work my mood or the subject of my painting already predetermines the colors or lack of. I don’t have a choice, unless I don’t have money. If I am pissed the painting is going to be either bright as hell or sinister dark. The colors you use to be expressive with can bring you into a frenzy of passing thoughts, memories and emotions, and possibly a long night of drinking.

Color = Passion

Frontline
Mixed Media on Wood
24" x 24"

Comments

[Legba Carrefour]

So does the lack of colour communicate anything? If you look at work like Frank Miller's "Sin City" (comic), he makes extreme evocative use of shading.