Transparent and Opaque, Colour Field Painting and Mark Rothko

On checking out the effects of opaque and transparent paints it is fascinating to see the  range of effects possible and how they can be used to advantage in painting. For transparent surfaces much depends on the underlying colour.  For example, if layers of thin transparent paint are painted over white the finish has great depth and  the colours appear very vibrant. Transparent paint on a dark surface is dull and indistinct. Mixing white with a colour makes that colour not just lighter but more opaque.  The surface appears dull, flat and advancing.
Here is a link to what I found to be a very helpful video about how the principle works:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCiMwwxSMZg


Optical mixing - on reading through this illuminating article I can get a real idea of some of the techniques that Mark Rothko was most fond of employing :

https://www.currys.com/template.htm?PAGE=ARTISTCOMMLIB&ECINFO=TT-OPTICALMIX

In 1958 Mark Rothko accepted a commission to paint a series of murals for the new restaurant in Manhattan's Seagram Building.  By this time colour field painting was an important part of his work. His motif changed to rectangular forms on large colour field within a frame or 2 columns. He would apply numerous thin layers of colour  allowing parts of them to show through the top coat, hence the appearance of light emanating from the surface. Studying the series online,  I get a strong sense of being pulled in and pushed out within the frame or the columns. They seem to be almost pulsating or breathing. He was obviously very interested in optical mixes. The effect must be very powerful and almost overwhelming for many  when viewing such huge canvases at close range.  According to experts Rothko said that he would prefer viewers to be positioned directly infront, about 18 inches away so the viewer could experience an intimacy with the painting. For this reason he also wanted the paintings to be hung in a room with subdued lighting to help the viewer to feel 'enveloped' within the painting. A similar feeling is what he must have got from the vestibule of Michelangelo's library on a trip to Florence where he was further inspired by the feeling he got of  being in a room with the doors and  windows  walled-in shut. Eventually he refused to allow them to be displayed there.
http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/rothko-red-on-maroon-t01165

The Seagram Murals  give some sense of their scale and intensity in spite of the mostly sombre colours:
Black on Maroon
Black and Maroon 1959 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/rothko-black-on-maroon-t01163

This is a definition of of optical mixtures from
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/sep/20/guide-to-painting-optical-colour-mixing - When two hues are placed side by side or on top of each other, your vision produces the illusion of a third colour - this is called optical mixing.Optical mixtures emit an inner glow that you cannot get with physical mixtures - the colours retain their intensity and brightness.


Helen Frankenthaler, amongst others, was strongly influenced by Rothko's techniques and developed her own style of colour field painting called the 'soak stain' technique, where she would pour washes diluted with turpentine onto the canvas. A flat yet luminous effect would result from the layers of merged paint and turps soaking into the surface. There is a detailed description of the inspiration behind her landmark work 'mountains and sea', together with a couple of wonderful images, also how colour field painting later developed is contained in her obituary:  
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/dec/28/helen-frankenthaler

Here is a link to seagram murals  - revealing an individual's interpretation of them on a tour through the murals, displayed in sequence.