Color Theory

Multimedia I

Color

Color is a quality of how light is reflected from objects

Color plays a vitally important role in the world in which we live. Color can sway thinking, change actions, and cause reactions. It can irritate or soothe your eyes, raise your blood pressure or suppress your appetite When used in the right ways, color can save on energy consumption. When used in the wrong ways, color can contribute to global pollution As a powerful form of communication, color is irreplaceable. Red means "stop" and green means "go." Traffic lights send this universal message. Likewise, the colors used for a product, web site, business card, or logo cause powerful reactions

What Color Is

Issac Newton first passed a beam of white light through a prism and saw it divide into several colors, creating a spectrum of colors The colors of the light wave spectrum are red, orange, yellow, green, blue and indigo. In physics, mixing the colors of the light wave together produces pure white light. It is these light waves, bouncing off or being absorbed by objects around us, that give them color. Hence the theory, color is a property of light.

The Color Wheel

A color circle, based on red, yellow and blue, is traditional in the field of art and is a way of arranging colors to show a variety of relationships between colors Sir Isaac Newton developed the first circular diagram of colors in 1666 Since then scientists and artists have studied and designed numerous variations of this concept

Three Properties of Color

Hue is the basic name of a color or the pure form of color there are six basic hues: red, yellow, blue, green, orange, and violet Intensity or saturation refers to the relative brightness or dullness of the color a color is at full intensity only when pure and unmixed Value or Brightness is the lightness or darkness of a hue

Primary Colors

Red, yellow, and blue In traditional color theory, these are the three pigment colors that can not be mixed or formed by any combination of other colors All other colors are derived from these three hues

Secondary Colors

These are the three colors formed by mixing two primary colors together - green, orange, and violet Blue + yellow = green Red + yellow = orange Red + blue = violet

Tertiary Colors

These are the six colors formed by mixing a primary color with a secondary color yellow-orange, redorange, red-violet, blue-violet, bluegreen, and yellowgreen

The question: Now that we have 12 colors...where do the rest of the colors come from?

The answer: Variations in tint, shade, and tone

Shade - hue mixed with black Tint - hue mixed with white Tone - hue + gray

Color Theory Basics

Additive and Subtractive

Additive Color Theory

Additive Color Theory states that in the natural world white light is made up of three basic components: red, green, and blue light In theory adding these three primary colors of light, red, green, and blue, together achieve white This is where we get RGB which is used by computer monitors

Subtractive Color Theory

Subtractive Color Theory explains how cyan, magenta, and yellow pigments or inks on paper subtracts white light components Since white light is made up of red, green and blue light, the inks subtract out that particular portion or color of light Whatever light that is left is recognized by the eye as a particular hue This is where we get CMYK which is used in the printing process

Basic Color Schemes

Color schemes are ways to use groups of colors together so a desired affect is achieved by an artist

Monochromatic Scheme

This uses a single pure hue with a number of tints and shades to provide variety Pros: Extremely unified and harmonious effective for establishing an overall mood Cons: Can be dull because of the lack of variation and therefore can lose the interest of the viewer

Warm Colors

Advance Excitement, passion, liveliness Yellow to red-violet on the color wheel

Cool colors

Cool colors recede Serenity, calmness Violet to yellow-green on the color wheel

Color discord is the perception of dissonance in a color relationship Emotional or symbolic colors are a subjective approach to color usage to elicit an emotional or symbolic response in the viewer