The Red Shoes - Color

This is the cover art for Kate Bush's seventh CD which was released in 1993.  In addition to the CD, she created a short film entitled The Line, The Cross, and The Curve.  The film was inspired by the 1948 full-length film of the same title. Both Kate Bush's and the 1948 film were based on a Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale (same title).  The fairy tale is about a dancer who is possessed by her art and then her red shoes take on their own life.  The shoes will not allow her to stop dancing.  Eventually, it drives her insane.  The CD had an amazing variety of high-profile cameos - Prince, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and Gary Brooker (Procol Harum) to name a few.  The title track The Red Shoes tells the story of desire, obsession, and mania. 

I have always been a Kate Bush fan - even though some of her music is odd - so, I purchased this CD as soon as it was released.  I immediately loved the artwork, storytelling, and the music.  The photo of the red shoes is really appealing to me: the shape of the foot, the strength, the satiny, red shoes.   Recently, my daughter and I were listening to my iPod in the car and The Red Shoes shuffled on.  She liked the music and especially the artwork.  To her, the artwork represented a dancer's commitment.  Worn shoes, big holes, and runs in tights are a "badge of honor" at the studio - it means you've worked hard and have been dancing a long time.  After listening to the song, she understood the real idea behind the picture.  Obsession.  Desire.  Insanity.  Many dancers feel these emotions especially when trying to make it professionally. Obsession with body weight.  Obsession with practice.  Obsession with auditions.  Obsession with performance.

I think the artwork is appealing to all audiences.  It is well-unified, balanced, and has a strong focal point.  The circular picture focuses on the shoes.  The shoes are surrounded by a yellow, highly-shadowed, nondescript background - maybe a drop cloth of some kind.   The background color makes the red, satin shoes stand out even more.  The circular picture is enclosed in a black square.  I feel like I am looking through a telescope - focusing solely on the shoes - nothing else to distract.  The white text is a funky (hand-drawn?), all upper-case typeface which curves to the picture at the top and bottom of the photo. This adds to the balance and unity.   

Color...  Red is an emotional, high energy color.  It has been known to increase heart rate, pulse, and respiration rate.  Red is the color of fire and blood.  It is associated with danger, power, determination, passion, desire, and love.  The red shoes in this artwork represent all of these emotional responses: the blood, sweat, and determination that go into dancing; the fiery, passionate emotions that possess dancer; the desire for fame; and finally, the power and danger of the obsession.  The Red Shoes - initially an object of desire - turned into obsession - and eventually into demise.

Jimi Hendrix - Color

This is a poster of Jimi Hendrix that was created by Waldemar Swierzy in 1974.  Swierzy was initially a fine artist and approached graphic design from the point of view of a painter.  He often incorporated crayon, chalk, acrylics, and watercolor into his design.   This is one of his many (and possibly most famous) works.  I initially saw an image of this poster in Megg's History of Graphic Design by Philip Meggs and Alston Purvis.  This image is taken from http://www.polishposter.com/.   The image is still sold today through numerous websites to Hendrix fans and art lovers alike.  The price for a 26.5" x 38" poster is around $400 and is waitlisted on many sites.

I was initially attracted to the representation of Hendix because of the dynamic - almost electric - feel of the poster.  It is animated with nervous, vivid, bright lines which vibrate around his hair and clothing. This represents his cutting-edge music.  Jimi Hendrix's work was raw, harsh, but always soulful with a strong blues influence.  The emotional eyes of the artist are so expressive and sad - blues personified.  Swierzy created outlined shapes in the hair and clothing. Then he filled them with flat and graduated values of color - he used different brightness values of purple (and a bit of green) for the fill and gradation.  He shaded the face, eyes, and background using various value (brightness) of the purple hue.  This is basically a monochromatic purple color scheme (with a touch of green in the clothing).  Although the we image may not reflect it, the background is a purple-gray color. The purple/green colors are warm and the electricity created from the bright lines create a dynamic contrast.

The piece reflects the design principles of unity, emphasis, balance, and rhythm.  The monochromatic color scheme, repetition of the lines and grouping promote unity and balance.  As stated in the text, the human face draws our attention thus creating emphasis.  There is a rhythm to the piece - the soft flowing lines create a smooth, legato feel while the brightness of some of the lines creates accent and energy.