Has anyone ever asked you "What is your favorite color?"

Nine Yellow Circles - an exercise in Simultaneous Contrast

23 May 2024

Did you know that our human eyes can't see one pure color? Ever?

The rods and cones in our eyes are hard-wired to see color as overlays. Even when presented with a single color on a white field. Our eyes are always mixing colors!

Prove it to yourself. Play the 9 Yellow Circles. 
  1. View this image full-screen.  (Right-click or Control+click to open in a new tab.)
  2. Focus your vision on the black dot in the center. Stay focused on this dot until the image changes. Try not to blink. It will change in 15 seconds. Your eyes might get tired. This is OK.
  3. Take note of what you see on the screen when the image changes.

(The image resets every 30 seconds, forever. So you can watch it as many times as you want. You might see new and different effects each time.)

Check out the sibling post to this to read more about why. And why it's important to your painting to know. 

(Apologies for the drama, but, you know - spoiler alert.)

Thanks for stopping in!

Julia

Julia O'Reilly