Color Theory Terms and Concepts
* Sir Isaac Newton was one the first scientists to investigate color theory. In 1666 (mid 17th C.), he discovered the origin of color when he shone a beam of light through an angular prism and split it into the spectrum – the various colors of the rainbow.
Primary color – the three colors that cannot be mixed from other colors. Primary colors are red, yellow and blue. 3 colors
Secondary color – a mixture of two primary colors. R/B=V; R/Y=O; Y/B=G 3 colors
Intermediate (tertiary) color – a mixture of primary and secondary colors. RO, YO, YG, BG, BV, RV 6 colors
Achromatic Colors – white, black, and all grays. These colors have no hue nor intensity and are not colors. They are also known as neutrals. 3 colors
Near Neutrals – browns and tans.
Shade – a hue with black added. Property of value
Tint – a hue with white added. Property of value
Tone – a hue with gray added. Property of intensity
Local (pure) color – the actual color of an object, disregarding highlight and shadow colors and reflected light color. R, O, Y, G, B, V 6 colors
The Three Qualities (properties) of Color
Hue - the name of a spectral color. R, O, Y, G, B, V
Saturation – The strength of a color. Intense vs. dull. Also known as intensity.
Value – Light vs. dark or white vs. black.
Color Harmonies/Relationships
Color Harmony- Colors seen together to produce a pleasing affective response are said to be in harmony.
Monochromatic color – a color harmony that is a single color: a hue and its tints, shades an intensity variations. Example: red, pink, mauve, maroon.
Analogous Color Harmonies – a color harmony of three or four colors that is adjacent on the color wheel. The similarity of analogous colors tends to produce a calm, relaxed feeling in an artwork. Example: Y, YO, O, RO or BV, V, RV, R
Complementary Color Harmonies – complementary harmonies are based on the contrast of color opposites. When complementary colors are placed side by side in a picture, they make each other look brighter and that creates an exciting, vibrant feeling in the artwork.
* Direct complements – two colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel. Example: PURE: Y/V, R/G, B/O TERTIARY: YG/RV, BG/RO, BV,YO
* Split complements – a color used with two colors adjacent to its direct complement. Example: yellow, red-violet and blue-violet
* Triadic complements – (or “triads”) and three colors that are equal distance from two or more colors on the color wheel. Example: yellow, red and blue (primary triad) or orange, green, violet (secondary triad).
* Tetradic complements - (double complementary) is the richest of all the schemes because it uses four colors arranged into two complementary color pairs.