Element of Art: Color

Green

A secondary color created by mixing the primary colors blue and yellow.

Purple (Violet)

A secondary color created by mixing the primary colors red and blue.

Orange

A secondary color created by mixing the primary colors red and yellow.

Cool colors

Blue, purple, and green.

Color theory

Can be broken down into 3 parts: The color wheel, color value, and color schemes.

Optical color

Color that people actually perceive, also called local color.

Arbitrary color

Colors chosen by the artist to express feelings or mood.

Secondary colors

Colors that are made by mixing two primary colors together to make orange, green and violet (purple).

Analogous colors

Colors that are next to each other on the color wheel. Examples are blue/blue-green; green/ yellow-green; red/red-purple; and purple/blue-purple.

Color triads

Consists of three colors found on the color wheel that are equally spaced apart from each other. Examples are red/blue/yellow, and orange/green/purple.

Shades

Created by adding black to a color.

Tints

Created by adding white to a color.

Color wheel

Developed by Sir Isaac Newton by taking the color spectrum of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo (blue-violet), and violet (purple) and bending it into a circle.

Color

Element of art derived from reflected light. We see color because light waves are reflected from objects to our eyes.

Complementary colors

Found directly across from each other on the color wheel providing strong contrast. Examples are blue/orange; red/ green; and yellow-green/red-purple.

Split complementary color scheme

Made up of a color and its complements closest analogous colors. Examples are blue/yellow-orange/red-orange, and red-orange/red-purple/green.

Monochromatic Color Scheme

Made up of one color and its shades and tints. For example, pink is a tint of red.

Color Spectrum

Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo (blue/violet), and Violet (purple). Remembered by the acronym ROY G. BIV.

Warm colors

Red, yellow, and orange.

Tertiary colors

Six different colors that are made by mixing a primary color with a secondary color (red-orange, red-purple, blue-purple, blue-green, yellow-orange, and yellow-green).

Intensity

The brightness or dullness of a color (not the lightness or darkness of a color).

Color value

The darkness or lightness of a color (for example, pink is a tint of red). This is not the brightness or dullness of a color.

Primary colors

The most basic colors on the color wheel: Red, yellow and blue. These colors cannot be made by mixing other colors together.

Hue

The name of the color.

Color Schemes

The ways in which colors are put together.