![\"Seeing](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/web-Surrounded-by-her-works-of-art-Concetta-Antico-sees-more-colors-than-other-artists-do-because-of-the-extra-color-receptor-in-her-eyes.-237x300.jpg\" "\\"web")
Born with a condition known as tetrachromacy \u2013 she has four different types of cone cells in the eye that process color, rather than the typical three \u2013 Antico paints a world of color that most people simply cannot see.<\/p>\n
The artwork on the walls of Antico\u2019s studio draws the viewer in for the vibrancy and palette of colors. At first, in her more than 20 years of painting as a contemporary impressionist, Antico thought she simply preferred to paint in more colors than most artists.<\/p>\n
For Antico, being a tetrachromat is a blessing, not a burden. She won many awards for her art while she was in elementary school. \u201cI was obsessed with art, and particularly painting and the impressionist masters, from a very early age,\u201d she said. \u201cMy mother told me when I was just a little girl that I would be an artist and an art teacher one day. I have never forgotten that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her mother was right. Antico has become a respected artist whose work is a favorite of art collectors. In 1995, she created her art school, focusing her methods of fine oil painting instruction in the classical atelier tradition. Students paint an object exactly as it appears to them on a one-to-one scale.<\/p>\n
\u201cI teach my students how to make a beautiful painting in just three and a half hours,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Antico did not discover that she had a condition in her eyes with an actual medical name until just recently. One afternoon, Dr. Wendy Martin walked into Antico\u2019s salon thinking it was the shop next door. Martin saw that Antico was about to begin an afternoon class.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe graciously ushered me out the door with a brochure of her class offerings,\u201d Martin said. \u201cBefore I knew it, I was taking oil painting classes for the first time in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin became intrigued with Antico\u2019s special inside look at color. She told the story of when Antico was a small child and asked to paint a fence along with other children to keep them from being underfoot. \u201cUnlike the other children who quickly grew bored with the exercise, she was fascinated, and when she reached the last post, went back and started over again,\u201d Martin said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe could see the colors of water, and she could distinguish an exquisite palette as the wood went from wet to dry. She literally could see another world that her wee playmates could not,\u201d Martin said.<\/p>\n
In another example, this time in in the studio, Martin and Antico looked up at a shadow that was cast on the ceiling from a floor light, and Antico asked, \u201cSee the pink? The green? The pale purple?\u201d<\/p>\n Martin, however, said she could only see a slightly grey shadow.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere you and I can see about 1 million hues, or color, Concetta can see 100 million,\u201d Martin said.<\/p>\n Whether she is painting outside during a plein air session or in class at the studio, Antico will always see colors that her students do not.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce she puts those brush strokes of color on the canvas, it makes intrinsic sense. It adds an unexpected contrast, a splash, a punctuation mark of sorts that makes her work unique and complete,\u201d Martin said.<\/p>\n Statistics vary, yet studies have shown that approximately two percent of females have the additional photoreceptor. Males however, have a lower rate of a fourth receptor, and are often more likely colorblind, which is also related to the number of color receptors in the eye.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel a great joy when I paint, able to recreate the beauty that I see,\u201d Antico said. \u201cIt is rewarding to be able to share my gift. I have taught over 12,000 people to paint.\u201d<\/p>\n Because she is able to resolve and mix colors and values easily, Antico can paint quickly, too. She recently completed a live demonstration during which she painted a 30-by-36-inch still life for the audience in less than four hours.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were as astounded as they were mesmerized, as they watched the process and the painting unfold,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Favorite subjects for Antico are things of nature, from flowers and animals to clouds and oceans. Primarily, she said, because of what only a few can see. \u201cThey have more color than other things on this earth,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Ironically, her fourth receptor did not pass along genetically to her daughter Ava, who instead is colorblind like her father.<\/p>\n \u201cShe paints in my programs,\u201d Antico said. \u201cShe is great. She also is in love with drawing.\u201d<\/p>\n To join the ever-growing circle of collectors and students of Antico, visit the Mission Hills salon at 1920 Fort Stockton Dr. For more information, visit thesalonofart.com or call 858-344-6897.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mission Hills artist uses her tetrachromacy \u2013 or fourth color receptor \u2013 as avenue to teaching By Cynthia Robertson | SDUN Reporter Concetta Antico, owner of The Salon of Art in Mission Hills, has a somewhat different view of the world.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":245987,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Seeing colors like no other","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11547,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-245986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-features","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Seeing](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Concetta-Antico-does-a-floral-painting-demo-at-a-recent-Master-at-Work-event..jpg\" "\\"Concetta")