Broken colour vs pure colour

Broken colour can also be described as damaged or diminished, it is essentially a colour that emerges when two colours mix and "fight" with eachother. The hue that emerges has lost strength and vitality from the incompatible elements in the mix. This can be both a pleasant and unpleasant result depending on the mix. It is a process also known as subtractive mixing.

In theory any two primaries combined should create a secondary colour however broken colour involves two complimentaries, one colour which is primary and one that is secondary, opposing eachother on the wheel. Red and green, blue and orange and purple and yellow.

Broken colours can however be made pleasing if eachother a lot of one colour is added or a little amount to create more of a balance in the mix. Broken colours are often dull on their own, however they mix well with other colours as they are essentially "cousins" of many other colours.

Broken colours create an overall dull feeling to a composition whereas pure colours are a lot brighter and therfore influence the overall feel of the composition with this. An example of this would be painting autumn and spring, autumn is a much more subdued season, the leaves are changing colour and falling and the weather is a bit colder with gentle oranges, yellows and reds. Whereas spring would be much more bright yellows and greens and blues to create that feel of spring.

Using colours to set a mood

The feel of colours is used in compositions to set a particular mood. For example blue is a relaxing colour, whereas red is a more alert and dangerous colour.

However if these rules are known they can also be broken effectively. Blue can reflect a calm and serene scene, but used in the right way can also reflect a dark and more menacing scene. Similarly with red is more often used to danger, however it can also be used as a warm colour, such as a sunset or love.

http://www.wdvl.com/Graphics/Color/color3.html uses a good example of the same scene in different colours and asks which is more inviting to you? It can depend on your mood.

This technique extends to all areas of art - photography, painting, movies etc will all use these techniques to influence and manipulate how the audience will perceive the image, how they will relate to it. It even extends to interior/exterior design as seen in this colour wheel.
http://www.landscapingnetwork.com/landscape-design/color-wheel.pdf
A great example of different moods and feelings set by different colours.

Impressionist broken colour theory

The theory of painting with broken colour was invented by the impressionists, by Claude Monet (1840 - 1926), as a way to give energy to a painting. It is a technique that is supposed to achieve the actual sensation of light itself. However it is a technique that can easily become empty and appear as more of just dabs of colour.

Another approch to broken colour is not to just give energy to the image but to also obscure the edges of the paintings allowing the mind to sense that the contours are there.

This way of painting broke how painters had been painting for many years Traditionally the colours would be mixed on a palette creating one single colour to work with, rather than mixing on the painting itself by dabbing the separate colours alongside eachother, to mix in our eyes from a distance.

This technique has never been a popular one and continues to be forgotten and not used. More often people are impressed with more photo-realistic type paintings.

They used a variety of methods in order to achieve this feel:

• Colour washing - a translucent paint over a colour background to allow textures and patterns to be created on the thin layer.
• Shading - Different shades to create an illusion of a transition from light to dark and vice versa.
• Sponging - A cloudy soft appearance to the composition, there is sponging on (applying) and sponging off (removing)
• Dry brushing/dragging - Dragging a dry brush through a wet glaze before it dries. This gives the illusion of wood or other woven surfaces.
• Combing/Stippling - Similar to dragging except done with a comb.
• Spattering - This involves striking a paintbrush with a piece of wood.
• Ragging and rag rolling - A colour glaze painted over a different colour which is then distressed using a rag or cloth.

Overall the impressionists managed to create a fresh and original feeling to paintings.