Jan 12, 20233 min read

Cerulean Blue and Emotional Response

Each time we make an artwork, there is emotion and an emotional response that helps us create the work. The art itself relies on how the subject matter is expressed. At My Voice Media Center, we strive to allow all of our participants to use self-expression as a tool for releasing and understanding their own emotional responses. Understanding and being able to use emotional responses as a technique in the art world is a tool every artist must have.

The tool of Self-Expression:

Self-expression relies on the emotions that we feel. Certain colors, textures, and different types of art can evoke a different response and help one feel connected to a different emotion. Take Picasso's Blue Period for instance, he relied on the color blue, the feeling associated with the color blue to express a certain feeling. To express emotion through the use of this color, particularly meant he was trying to convey this to others, to his viewers.

"...in 1903, he had produced his Blue Period works, which seemed to reflect his experience of relative poverty and instability, depicting beggars, street urchins, the old and frail and the blind."

Pablo Picasso; (https://www.pablopicasso.org/blue-period.jsp)

It was through discovering his blue and rose periods, that Picasso learned about himself through these methods of self-expression. These periods of self-discovery are what led him to develop his signature style that we all know as "Picasso".

In "The Two Sisters" by Picasso in 1902, expressly went to "St. Lazare in Paris, where nuns served as guards" to experience first hand. Choosing the subject matter that was important to his concept of "blue" determined the emotional response from viewers for years to come, and indefinitely. The choices we make as artists come to rely on our own emotional opinions, feelings, and conjectures. (pablopicasso.org)

Pablo Picasso; 1902; "The Two Sisters"; (https://www.pablopicasso.org/two-sisters.jsp#prettyPhoto)

What are some of the most recent works you have done using the color Cerulean Blue?

Many of us need inspiration for picking the right colors, or even the right subject matter. At

My Voice Media Center, we use a theme each month and pick a monthly color. You can find

this and a special quote each month in our pamphlet.

Participants' works from 2022. Sessions include 2D and 3D Art, Photography, Photo Editing, and Painting.

We hope that you are using self-expression to understand the subject matter you choose. We encourage self-expression to help you on your path of wellness and recovery, so choose a subject matter that is beneficial to you. Choose to pursue an emotional response, to better your art because the emotion is understood by many, and to create works that are important to you. Choosing a particular color like Cerulean Blue will help you interpret the emotions that are possible for you and for you to use in your art.

If you need help understanding what color can "feel" like try to brainstorm how you felt the last time you saw that color, or just start painting, photographing, or researching that color. Finding out more about how you feel, will reflect in your painting, and your understanding of your subject matter, color, and emotional response will be better understood by your viewers.