Perception of Emotions

Visual Perception is a vital requisite of any artist. Visualization of the abstract is unique of a maestro. The sense of loneliness is a subtle and abstract emotion that is acclaimed and appreciated by all visual artists alike. It is my belief that there exists a minute quality that defines the visual essence of any emotion. I have spent a lot of my time alone in an attempt to capture or identify the essence of this delicate emotion. The mental picture that floats first in my mind every single time is the image of a small child standing in a beach. The imagery is predominantly black and white. But I have realized that it is possible to enhance the emotion with a black and blue or a blue and white combination. This is interesting as blue is a cold color and augments the chillness that can so easily be associated with a beach (not just the coldness of water and the moon but also the one that which the vastness and the uncertainty create, experienced as mild apprehension). To comprehend the consequence of this observation, it is necessary that we answer some questions.

Why is it that a child portrays a better imagery?

Why is it that a distant object speaks better of solitude?

Why is it that a panoramic illustration especially of a beach helps relate better with this emotion?

What is in common with all these attributes that helps strike the right note?

The answer to all these questions is contrast. A child in a panoramic portrayal of a beach shows the contrast in the size. The depth, the vastness and dimensional expanse of the sea contrasts the shallow emotions and small size of a child. It is indeed the same reason why the diminishing of the distant objects speak so well of solitude. The same is the reason why a person walking away into the open vast exposes the spirit of this emotion. The reason is contrast.

White and black are two interestingly unique colors that can blend so well with themselves and with other colors to depict contrast. This brings us back to our observation as to why black and blue or blue and white helps enhance the imagery. The answer again is contrast. Also the warmth of the human element develops a contrast with the cold, still and distant (again) nature of the sea and to an extent, the blue color itself. But whether it is the color that helps express the emotion or the emotion makes the color cold is a more difficult question to answer. May be the melancholic element of loneliness requires a cold color to express the sadness. But the presence of a strong contrast is easily perceivable.

But it is not necessary for all these elements to be present to describe loneliness. A picture without the human element may still manage to reflect the emotion. A picture of a boat that sails far and deep into vast deep and silent waters, for example, may achieve the emotion. The stillness and the distance and the contrasting colors will not fail to create coldness, but only in this case, it is the emotions of a viewer who can relate truly to the imagery that provides the necessary warmth to create the contrast.

Hence, contrast clearly is the quintessence of loneliness.