Color Glossary

Hexadic Harmony

HEXAD-SIX colors symmetrical towards the middle of color wheel

Chiaroscuro

(from Italian: chiaro, "light," and scuro, "dark") technique employed in the visual arts to represent light and shadow as they define three-dimensional objects.

Effective Color combinations or Shemes

1) Monochromatic: various shades, tones, or tints of one color; for instance, a range of blues varying from light to dark; this type of scheme is more subtle and conservative 2) Analogous: hues that are side by side on the color wheel; this type of scheme is versatile and easy to apply to design projects 3) Complementary: opposites on the color wheel, such as red/green or blue/orange; complementary colors are high-contrast and high-intensity, but can be difficult to apply in a balanced, harmonious way (especially in their purest form, when they can easily clash in a design) 4) Split-Complementary: any color on the color wheel plus the two that flank its complement; this scheme still has strong visual contrast, but is less jarring than a complementary color combination 5) Triadic: any three colors that are evenly spaced on the color wheel 6) Tetradic/Double-Complementary: two complementary pairs; this scheme is very eye-catching, but may be even harder to apply than one pair of complementary colors, since more colors are more difficult to balance. If you use this type of scheme, you'll want to choose one of the four to be the dominant color and adjust the saturation/value/etc. of some or all the colors so they work well in different parts of your design like the text and background.

The Color Wheel

A circle with different colored sectors used to show the relationship between colors. The specific placement of the hues along the circumference of the wheel will help illustrate the relationships or harmonies.

Optical Color

A color changed by the light of sunset, moonlight, candlelight or an atmospheric effects, such as faraway mountains appearing blue; orange grass at the sunset.

Subtractive Color Mixing

A process that occurs when light is reflected off a surface or is filtered through a translucent object. For example, a red pigment or filter only appears red because it absorbs (subtracts) all of the light that is not red and only reflects or allows the red light.The colors which are not reflected are absorbed (subtracted). The subtractive primary colors are Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black (CMYK). Used in ceramic, glass (colored), color printing, photography (use also in additive color mixing), fibers, digital printing.

Pigments

Bits of powder suspended in a medium such as oil or acrylic. There are 3 pigment colors Red, Blue and Yellow that cannot be mixed from other colors and from which all other colors can be mixed.

Color Symbolism, Color Cultural effect, Color Biological effect, Color Emotional and Psychological effect.

Color symbolism refers to the use of color as a symbol in various cultures. Example 1: Red as the color of love, cupid, hate, etc. Cultural Effect of Color refers to what that specific color means in that specific culture. Example 2: Western cultures and black is associated with death. Color Biological is refers how a particular color may affect our behavior. Example 3: Persons in a blue room in contrast from persons in a red room. Color Emotional and Psychological Effect is relate to different emotional responses in those who see, wear, or live with them. According to Chiazzari (color therapist) hues can be associated with emotions. Therefore, Red is associated with vitality, sensuality, anger, etc. Pink to calmness, kindness, unselfish love, Orange to joy, security, Yellow to happiness, mental stimulation, optimism, Green to harmony, relaxation, peace, sincerity, Blue to peace, hope, faith, flexibility, acceptance, White to peace, purification, isolation, spaciousness, Black to femininity, protection, restriction, Gold to abundance, idealism, Silver to change, balance, sensitivity, femininity.

Dyes

Coloring materials dissolve in a liquid solvent.

Physiological Effects of Color

Colors affect us emotionally, make us feel and make us express emotions Physiological research with the effects of colored lights, red wavelengths stimulate the heart, the circulation, and the adrenal glands, increasing strength and stamina. Pink has a gently stimulating quality and helps muscles to relax. Orange wavelengths stimulate the solar plexus, the immune system, the lungs, and the pancreas, and benefit the digestive system. Yellow light is stimulating for the brain and nervous system bringing mental alertness and activating the nerves and muscles. Blue affect the throat and thyroid gland, bring cooling and soothing effects, and lower blood pressure. Deep blue reduces pain. Blue-Green helps to decrease infections. Violet affect the brain, has purifying, antiseptic, and cooling effects, balances the metabolism, and seems to suppress hunger.

How achieve emphasis using Color

Emphasis is defined as an area or object within the artwork that draws attention and becomes a focal point. It could be achieve using: Value (light and dark), Complementary colors, Atmospheric perspective, Using intensity of light, By placement in the composition (one spot with a bright color).

Atonal Color or Achromatic Hue

Extremes in value contrast are white and black. If no color is present in the value scale it is atonal. A scale of gray.

Tone

If a hue is mixed with gray a tone is created or by mixing it with both tint and shade. The base gray mixed with the hue can be very light to extremely dark and everything in between the full range.

Shades of Gray - Achromatic Range

If all color is eliminated entirely, then what we would be left with is an achromatic range.

Quaternary Hue

If intermediate are mixed with primaries or sevundaries hues.

The Bezold Effect

If one color was changed in a design, it could have a radical effect on the overall composition and feeling of the design. By changing the dominant hue in a pattern, the entire composition could be modified.

Intermediate or Tertiary Hue

If primary and secondary hues are mixed.

Analogous Schemes

If two hues are very similar to each other in value and saturation, they will have a dramatic visual impact and interaction with each other. Where the two hues meet, the line or boundary between them appears to vanish. This effect is common when working with analogous schemes or with colors that are very close in value or saturation. This visual result can be achieved with both bright and dull hues alike; all that matters is that the hues must be close in value and intensity.

Double split complementary

In a double split complementary color scheme, two colors next to each other and their two corresponding complements are selected. This allows for an even greater variation and complexity in design.

Tonal or Chromatic Hue

Is a color which has even the slightest amount of hue. Have characterizing hues such as red, blue and yellow, as well as saturation, which is an attribute of intensity, in addition to lightness. The elements of hue, lightness and saturation found in chromatic colors are referred to as the three attributes of color, and specific colors can be represented by stipulating the values for each of these attributes. For example, blue and green are chromatic colors, while white, gray, and black are achromatic colors, as they have no dominant hue (all wavelengths are present in equal amounts within those colors). White light is considered achromatic, as it possesses no dominant hue.

CMYK

Is a subtractive color model used in color printing and is also used to describe printing process itself: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key is black.

Split Complimentary

Is the color plus two neighboring colors to its complimentary. They form an upside down "Y" shape or one that resembles a peace symbol without the center leg. The additional color gives the artist more material to work with and allows for more complexity in design.

Tint

Is the hue plus the addition of white.

Atmospheric perspective

It is a way to describe depth using color. A visual effect caused by the diminishing of light. Distant objects appear bluish, lighter, less detail and value contrast. Objects that are close appear warm, dark, and have more detail and value contrast.

Local Color (view: Optical color focus in their differences)

It is relate to the color that appears from nearby when viewed under average lighting conditions. Example: We think that the local color of a banana is yellow.

Color Harmony

Means that there is visual unity of certain color combination. Color harmonies, schemes, and color ways are synonymous terms, meaning the same thing. Rather than an artist trying different hues and having hit-or-miss results, color schemes are formulas or combinations that can be used to create a cohesive unified picture. These formulas are time-proven methods of using color to create a pleasing harmonic balance.

Chromotherapy

Method of treatment that uses the visible spectrum (colors) of electromagnetic radiation to cure diseases. Example: Orange - Symbolizing the sun, the color orange is said to treat depression by increasing alertness and concentration, and by decreasing feelings of dread. Blue - The most common color used in color therapy, blue is used to reduce tension throughout the body, helping with both anxiety and depression.

Shade

Mixing black with the hue will produce a shade of that color.

Arbitrary Color

Natural color is ignored to create an emotional or visual effect: purple grass because artist feels like it.

After-Image

Refers to an image continuing to appear in one's vision after the exposure to the original image has ceased. Usually from a highly saturated color to a neutrally-colored area. Visual sensation that occurs briefly after a color stimulus is gone. An illusory image in the color complementary to the one at which we had been looking.

Intensity

Refers to the purity of color or its freedom from white, black, or gray. A vivid color is of high intensity; a dull color, low intensity.

Saturation

Saturation, or quality, relates to the degree of purity of a color. The intensity and purity of the given hue. Another way to think of saturation is as the brightness or dullness of a color. Brighter, more intense colors usually denote a purer saturation of the particular hue.

Tetradic Harmony

TETRAD - FOUR colors symmetrical towards the middle of color wheel. If a square were placed inside the color wheel, each of the corners of the box would touch upon a hue. The hues touched on create or form a tetrad. Like a triad, each hue must be an equal distance from one another. A tetrad will always consist of one set of complements made up of a primary and a secondary hue, as well as two intermediate hues for the second pair of complements. Of all of the color ways, the tetrad offers the artist the greatest range of hues and contrast to work with.

Triadic Harmony

TRIAD - THREE colors symmetrical towards the middle of color wheel. Composed of three hues. Each of these hues must be of equal distance from the other on the color wheel. Each color or location touched by a point of the triangle would represent a hue. The most common and simplest form of this color scheme would be the three primary hues or the three secondary hues. But intermediate hues can also make up a triad.

RGB

The RGB color model is an additive color model in which red, green and blue light are added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colors. The name of the model comes from the initials of the three additive primary colors, red, green and blue.

Color Constancy

The ability to perceive colors of objects, invariant to the color of the light source.

Additive Color Mixing

The color additive theory describes how we perceive color and how they are created. Essentially white light is a combination of many different colors. When equal parts of each of the three major bands (red-green-blue) are combined you get white light. Therefore the process start with darkness and light is added to produce a range of colors.

Color

The visual effect that is caused by the spectral composition of the light emitted, transmitted, or reflected by objects. Color originates in light. Sunlight, as we perceive it, is colorless. In reality, a rainbow is testimony to the fact that all the colors of the spectrum are present in white light. Three most important properties; attributes of color: hue, value and intensity.

Color Temperature

The color wheel can be divided into two basic areas, or groups, of warm and cool hues. The warm range are: yellow, orange, red, and some hues of green. The cool hues normally include everything from blue-green to the various forms of blues and violets. Color temperature can also be used to create spatial effects. Visually, warm hues appear to advance on the picture plane. Cool hues have the opposite effect. They appear to recede into space on the picture plane.

Neutral Color

The color which is subdued by addition of black, white, gray, or complimentary color.

Value Contrast

The concept of how a color may appear when placed on a contrasting background.

Contrast of Saturation

The contrast between pure, intense colors and dull, neutralized colors. A pure color may be diluted with white, black, and gray or by corresponding complementary color. Main reason to use contrast of saturation is to achieve a focal point in the composition. For my most fascinating is using saturated color which grab your attention first, second, third, fourth etc. to achieve a sense of continuity.

Complementary Contrast Sheme

The effect created when two complementary hues of equal value and saturation are placed next to each other in a design. They represent the highest form of contrast within the color wheel. If the hues picked are equal in value and saturation and are placed next to each other in a design, the colors will appear to vibrate. They will also appear to be brighter and more intense.

Simultaneous Contrast or Successive Contrast

The effect of complementary colors to influence each other and the adjacent hues. Our perception of color is affected by the environment in which we see that hue. Because a color is rarely seen by itself, the surrounding colors will influence and, in many cases, alter the color perceived. This visual phenomenon is known as simultaneous contrast and occurs when one color is seen on differing backgrounds. It is commonly associated with complements, but it can also occur in any situation when two or more hues are placed next to each other. The effect is that the color will seen different (visually change from the original).

Analogous Colors

The hues that are next to each other on the color wheel. The key is that they are always directly next to each other.

Monochromatic Scheme

The most simple color harmony possible is a monochromatic scheme. Mono comes from the Greek for one, meaning that it is a scheme that is comprised only of a single hue. It is the full range of a color from its lightest tint to its deepest shade and everything in between, but it is always one very specific hue. Created by taking any hues from the Color Wheel and repeating it in various Tints, Shades and Tones.

Color Discord

The opposite to the color harmony. A combination of discordant color can be visual disturbing. They seem to clash, to pull away in opposing directions, rather then relate harmoniously to one another. A discordant color note in painting or design may contribute visual surprise and also may better express certain themes or ideas.

Spectrum

The range of visible color created when white light is passed through a prism.

Color Value

The relative degree of lightness or darkness of a particular color or the gradation from light to dark.

Primary Colors

The three primary colors are red, yellow and blue. Named primaries because they cannot be broken down any further and are the principal ingredients that make up all other colors.

Expressionism Color

The use of color to express and emotional stage rather than a visual true. Example: Picasso blue period.

Secondary Colors

There are only three secondaries: orange, green, and violet. The three secondary colors are mixtures of the two primaries: Red + Yellow = Orange Red + Blue = Violet From these, all other colors can "theoretically be mixed".

Components that artists consider when working with color

There are three components that artists consider when working with color. They are hue, value, and saturation. Each can be controlled and will have a significant impact on how the hue may be viewed.

Tertiary Colors

These colours are made by mixing a primary colour with an adjacent secondary colour. When naming tertiary colours the primary and secondary colour names are joined by a dash (-) with the primary always being the first colour. yellow + orange = yellow-orange red + orange = red-orange red + purple (violet) = red-purple (red-violet) blue + purple (violet) = blue-purple (blue-violet) blue + green = blue-green yellow + green = yellow-green

Hue

This is another world for color. The terms hue, chrome, and color are all names for the same thing. A hue is the actual, or proper, name of any given color. The term color tends to be more univer- sal, while hue tends to be more specific and refers to a color found in the spectrum or on the color wheel.

Complementary Colors

Two colors directly opposite each other on the color wheel and if they are mixed they created a neutral gray. They enhance, intensify each other, and neutralize each other when mixed - break each other or produce grey. They also require each other - afterimage effect, simultaneous contrast. Complementary colors also create harmonies; dyad, split complementary, triad, tetra, etc.

Color Value v. Color Saturation

Value is the brightness or darkness of the color (in the image vertical axis) Saturation is the intensity of the Color.

Fading of Subtractive Colors

When light exposure impact the ink and pigments are lost (color lost).