LINDA JEAN FISHER NARRATIVE
THE BIRREN EXPERIMENT
A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO THE PROJECT
I can remember playing in the woods and ending up with a thorn in my sock
right below mv ankle where it meets the top of my shoe. It was pleasantly
annoying. I would always walk around with it in there for a while to see
how long I could stand being uncomfortable.
When I completed "Peaches: Tree Ripe and Flavor Picked with Phthalo
Blue (Green Shade), Phthalo Green (Blue Shade), Hansa Yellow Opaque, Quinacridone
Crimson, and Quinacridone Magenta [2001]," it was time to "walk
with the thorn in my socL " I realized I was working "at ease"
using what I knew about color harmony and paint application, and that
it was time to sweat a little blood. I had read Faber Birren's book Principles
of Color and decided to take the plunge and invest in his more advanced
work called Creative Color. This book is a course divided in two sections:
the first is dedicated to academic tradition, and the second focuses on
the human perception of color effects. Each chapter contains experiments
that the reader can execute and collect as visual notes.
In the beginning I figured I would read through the book, do a few experiments
here and there, and go back to "real painting." When I carried
out the exercise for Chapter Three and formed a circle consisting of 112
pure and intermediate colors, I knew I was about to embark on a prodigious
journey.
This is the Color Circle That Linda Jean Built [2001] Acrylic on acid-free
cover paper mounted on a wood panel 17.75" x 17.7S" III
Scale *4, Pure Color Name: Cadmium Red Deep, Shade, UNDERTONE [10-11-20021
Acrylic on acid- free cover paper 83" x 11" 121
Scale *21, Key Hue Name: Vat Orange, Uniform Chroma, Brown, MASSTONE (graded
higher value of a shade) [10-18-2001] Acrylic on acid-free cover paper
&S" x 11" 131
The Orb for Scale *21, Key Hue Name: Vat Orange, Uniform Chroma, Brown,
MASSTONE (graded higher value of a shade) [10-18-20011 Acrylic on acid-free
cover paper 11" X 8.5" 141
The Birren Color Equation Triangle #2, Key Hue Name: Phthalo Blue (Green
Shade) [10-222001] Acrylic on acid-free cover paper 11" x 83"
IS1
Uniform Chroma Scales for The Birren Color Equation Triangle #2, Key Hue
Name: Phthalo Blue (Green Shade) [10-22-2001] Acrylic on acid-free cover
paper 11" x 8.5" 161
Color Value and Sequence #4, Including Quinacridone Burnt Orange, Quinacridone
Crimson, Quinacridone Magenta, Primary Magenta, C. P. Cadmium Orange,
Cadmium Red Deep,
LINDA JEAN FISHER SLIDE NARRATIVERAGE 2
Quinacridone Violet, Hansa Yellow Opaque, Phthalo Green (Blue Shade),
Phthalo Blue (Green Shade), Titanate Yellow, and Cobalt Blue [11-5-20011
Acrylic on acid-free cover paper
11" x 8.5"
171
Analogous Experiment *3, Adjacent Shades on Black, With Vat Orange, C.
P. Cadmium Yellow Ught, and Vermilion Hue [11-8-2001]
Acrylic on acid-free cover paper
11" x 8.5"
181 ENTIRE IMAGE 191 DETAIL
THE PAINTING A DAY
A friend of mine's mother %vas diagnosed i%ith lung cancer on Nlarch 17,
2001. We began spending more time together in early July, and one of our
first visits 1vas at my studio. We finished looking at a selection of
paintings and ivalked outside. She "7as immediately struck by the
color of things versus form itself, and exclaimed that she no%~, saiv
her surroundings in a
completely different %vay.
I began The Birren Experiment on October 4. Within a ~%-eek, her mother
suffered a stroke. It ivas at this time she told me about frequently thinking
of my ~%-ork because she finds it healing. Then I got the idea to do a
mail art project. At the end of each studio session I 1vould choose one
of the pieces I completed and send it to her. This painting had to be
my favorite and the one I found most difficult to part Nvith. Why? Because
%~'hat I %N,as giving up ivas nothing compared to ivhat she ~%ras losing.
The earlier experiments I executed include tint, shade, and tone scales,
color mixing equations, and color sequence exercises. When I began the
exercises in analogous harmonies, I arranged numbers of various sizes
in a vertical rectangle and colored them in. Then her mother passed ai~-ay
on November 12, and I felt that i~-ords or phrases %vould be more comforting
than numbers. I painted compositions that centered on ~~-ords like faith,
healing, love, strength, peace, and God. For the first time I had the
courage to reveal my belief in the poiver of God. I have ah%~ays avoided
overtly using God or Jesus in my %%-ork because I v,-as afraid of "iN,hat
the neighbors ivould think." Then I understood. I am on a mission
that I passionately believe in and can no longer limit my spirituality
to an emotional arrangement of analogous hues.
Complementary Experiment #6, "Faith: In Or Out? It's Up To You."
Split-Complements,
Magenta with Yellow-Green and Blue-Green, Including Primary Magenta, Phthalo
Green (Blue Shade), Phthalo Blue (Red Shade), and C.P. Cadmium Yellow
Ught, Tints on White, Both Color Forms and Pure Hues are Combined in Appealing
Order [11-18-20011
Acrylic on acid-free cover paper
11" x 8.5"
1101 ENTIRE IMAGE I 11) DETAIL
The Lustrous Effect, Experiment #5, "The First Station" Vermilion,
Orange, and Yellow on Dark Grayish Tone of Blue Over Brown, Including
Vermilion Hue, C. P. Cadmium Orange, Vat
Orange, Titanate Yellow, Phthalo Green (Blue Shade), Cobalt Blue, and
Permanent Violet Dark [12- 13-2001/12-14-20011
Acrylic on acid-free cover paper 11" x 8.5"
1121 ENTIRE IMAGE 113) DETAIL
The iridescent Effect No. 2, "Talk To God Now-For Denise" Clean
Tint of Lavender Scaled to NS Neutral Gray on Purple Field, Including
C.P. Cadmium Yellow Ught, Dioxazine Purple,
Titanium White, and N5 Neutral Gray [12-16-20011
Acrylic on acid-free cover paper
LINDA JEAN FISHER SLIDE NARRATTVE/PAGE 3
11" x 8.5"
114) ENTIRE IMAGE
(IS) DETAIL
Luminosity Experiment No. 2-Trial No. 3, "Open Your Eyes With C.
P. Cadmium Orange- For Joyce Moretti Fisher and Thomas Charles Fisher"
Including C. P. Cadmium Orange, Titanium White, and N4 Neutral Gray [12-20-20011
Acrylic on acid-free cover paper 11"X8.5" 1161
Luminosity Experiment No. 3-Trial No. 1, "Try Again-For Edward Hopper
and Faber Birren (It Would Not Exist if it Were Not for Either of Them)"
Including Hansa Yellow Medium, Hansa Yellow Opaque, Dioxazine Purple,
Titanium White, and N7 Neutral Gray [12-21-2001] Acrylic on acid-free
cover paper I I" x 8.5" 1171 ENTIRE IMAGE 118) DETAIL
THE HUMAN PERCEPTION OF COLOR EFFECTS The last four paintings I mailed
included experiments in the law of field size, luster, and luminosity.
These are examples of the application of Perceptionism described in the
second part of the book. I have also studied iridescence, chromatic light,
and most recently chromatic mist.
I was hesitant to continue on to the chapters and exercises involving
chromatic light and mist because I am red/green color blind, and those
two color effects depend on color matching. Nly first reaction was to
think that what I mixed would be wrong and therefore fail to produce a
picture that truly demonstrates the influence of colored lights on colored
surfaces. Then my love for systematic observation and experiment took
over, and I jumped right in.
To experiment with the effect of chromatic light, I painted a simple color
chart using the following hues: red, yellow, green, blue, purple, white,
middle gray, and black. I cut them out and put them aside. Then I created
a stand out of four-ply black mat board that could be placed upright on
my desk and turned on its vertical axis. I cut a hole in a piece of paper,
taped it to the stand, and applied a small quantity of remounting spray
to the exposed area of the board. I made four sets of mat board windows
and taped one of the following colored pieces of cellophane between each
one: red, green, yellow, and blue. I tacked a color swatch on the stand
and placed one of these colored screens in front of it. Normal light,
from a window or lamp, shined evenly from the left, and I proceeded to
match each color as it appeared to me through the cellophane.
The process is slow and meticulous, and my first few palettes took me
approximately eight hours to make. But the colors I mixed are unlike anything
I would have created without matching pigments to resemble the effect
of colored light on colored surfaces. I was so excited with the results
that I have taken the time to carefullN, document the formulas to be used
as fixed palettes for future paintings.
Chromatic Light/C-7, Formulas for a Fixed Palette, Red Cellophane, Trial
Number 2 [1-6- 20021 Acrylic on acid-free cover paper 8.5" x 11"
1191
Chromatic Light/C-3, Exercise Number 3, Part 3, Red Cellophane, "I
Put the Shovel Aside"
[12-
30-2001 and 12-31-20011
TEXT. GOD IL4NDED ME A SHOVEL. THE GROUND WAS FROZEN. I PUT THE SHOVEL
ASIDE, GOT ON MY KNEES, AND DUG WITH MY HANDS. L. J. FISHER (V 2001
Acrylic on acid-free cover paper
11" x &S"
1201 ENTIRE IMAGE