Color Theory

Chromatic

Colors

What is the 4 step language of stand color terms?

1. hue = pure spectral color 2. value = light/dark 3. intensity = bright/dull 4. temperature = warm/cool

4 variable factors that influence the way we see color.

1. light 2. object texture 3. eye health 4. surroundings

Advantages of wet media:

1. permanence 2. ease of mixing

Advantages of dry media:

1. portability 2. easy to handle (disadvantage: impermanence)

Five ways to deintensify a hue:

1. tinting (+white) 2. shading (+black) 3. toning (+gray) 4. mixing compliments 5. adding 3rd primary

Secondary colors are a mixture of...

2 primary colors.

System of Values

9 - white 8-7 high value 6-4 mid value 3-2 low value 1 - black

A color in it's spectrum form is...

A HUE.

Signature colors

A personalized group of harmonious colors.

Second principle of Color Interaction

Complementary Reaction or Effect: Exploits the concept of simultaneous contrast, a strong factor in color interaction. Green on a red ground appears to have a higher saturation or intensity when compared to the same green placed on a neutral gray ground.

Additive secondary colors

Cyan, magenta, yellow.

Who was Georges Seurat?

French Post-Impressionist who was very engaged with a new approach to color in painting that he dubbed divisionism aka pointillism, a sophisticated method of generating color luminosity in a painting. He created color sensations with pointillism that were lighter in value than physically mixed colors.

Who is Michel Eugene Chevereul?

French chemist (1786-1889) who explored the concept of color relativity in detail. Worked as a supervisor of dye production in a carpet manufacturing plant.

Color Circle

From top clockwise: Yellow, YO, Orange, RO, Red, RV, Violet, BV, Blue, BG, Green, YG

Local color =

General color of object under "normal" light.

Who is Josef Albers?

German painter, educator and color theorist. (1888-1976) Wrote the book The Interaction of Color. Designed 2 color study experiments. 1. To make one color appear to be two colors by changing the color of the ground or context color. 2. To make two different colors look like one color by the illusion of color interaction.

Pigments

Ground up color producing substances.

Color properties and definitions

Hue = name of color Value = lightness/darkeness Intensity = brightness/dullness Temperature = warmth/coolness

Natural pigments of Black:

Lamp Black: produced from soot of burned carbon fuels Ivory Black: burned ivory (bones) Mars Black: iron oxidate

The Bezold Effect

A single color change within a pattern affected the appearance of all remaining colors in the pattern. Effect named after Wilhelm von Bezold.

Explain two ways we can de-intensify a #8value RO while mainting its value at #8.

Add a gray of equal #8 value or add a BG (#8)

Natural pigments of Red:

Alizarin Crimson: ground from the roots of a Madder plant.

Divisionism

Also known as pointillism, a sophisticated method of generating color luminosity in a painting. (Small marks of color adjacent to each other)

Optical Mixtures of Pigmented Color

An optical mixture of traditional materials such as pigment, inks or dyes involves the use of tiny dots, dashes, or marks of at least two colors. Optical mixtures may create a hue, value, or saturation change depending on what colors are mixed.

Sympathetic analogous mixture

Analogous hues are neighbors on the color circle, causing them to be both sympathetic and harmonious with each other. The color similarity of analogous colors allows ease of visual blending.

Why is the sky blue?

As light enters the atmosphere, it encounters gas molecules of oxygen and nitrogen. Red, yellow and orange light passes through but violet, blue and green is scattered about the atmosphere. Violet is scattered than blue. More blue is scattered than green. Violet dissipates, leaving mostly blue to color the sky.

What is the result of mixing all subtractive colors?

Black

Achromatic

Black, white, shades of gray

Temperate colors =

Both warm and cool colors mixed. RV and YG.

How do you de-intensify a color?

By adding grey or by adding complementary.

Natural pigments of Orange:

Cadmium: ground from Greenockite (a mineral) Very toxic.

Electromagnetic vibrations

Color is light broken down into electromagnetic vibrations.

Natural pigments of White:

Lead white: lead based (toxix zinc white: zinc Titanium white: titanium

First principle of Color Interaction

Light/Dark Value Contrast: The most efficient way to effect a color change is to utilize the principle of light/dark value contrast of grounds. A color will appear lighter on a dark ground and darker on a light ground.

6 color schemes

Monochromatic: 1 basic hue Analagous: 3-5 hues consecutively placed on wheel Triadic: 3 hues "equidistant" on wheel Complementary: 2 hues opposite each other Split complementary: one hue and the two hues on either side of that hues complement. Double complementary: any 2 sets of complements

Color Dominance

Occurs when a single hue, value, or saturation is permitted to be preeminent in a composition. A dominant color influences all the colors in a composition by covering the most physical area of a composition.

Natural pigments of yellow:

Ochre: produced from impure iron ore. Saffron: produced from a crocus plant.

Complementary Vibration

Optical mixture made from opposing or complementary hues which seem to repel each other causing an illusion of movement or visual vibration.

Optical Mixtures

Optical mixtures of color employ tiny amounts of two or more colors, which visually blend to create yet another (third) color. Either pigmented materials or light may form an optical mixture.

Subtractive secondary colors

Orange, green, violet

Ibn Sina

Persian philosopher (A.D. 980-1037) found that red light stimulated the movement of blood and blue light slowed it.

Professions of color theorists...

Philosophers, painters, inventors, mathematicians, priests, astronomers, artists.

Natural pigments of brown:

Raw umber, raw sienna: Dug from the soil around Italy. Produces cooler browns. Burnt umber, burnt sienna: Dug from the soil around Italy "baked" or heated to produce "warmer" browns.

What are rods cells and where are they?

Receptors that distinguish black and white and shades of gray. They are found along the edges of retinal wall. They see value changes.

Color research study results (conceptual):

Red & RV: love Black: hate Blue & Green: peace Yellow & Orange: happiness

How do the properties of ABSORPTION and REFLECTION function when seeing a red surface?

Red is reflected and all other colors are absorbed.

Color research study results (light):

Red light: arousing because it increased blood pressure and quickened the pulse. Yellow: felt like sunlike to the subjects and provoked nervous responses, elevating their activity level. Blue-violet: was pleasant and calming and elevated concentration levels of the subjects. Green: calming with an overall positive effect.

Color research study results (highly saturated rooms):

Red room: subjects found the color overstimulating and red heightened both blood pressure and pulse levels. Blue room: lowered blood pressure and slowed the activity of the subjects. Yellow room: had no effect on the subjects' blood pressure but caused eyestrain. Green room: caused no physical reactions and was considered a calm but monotonous environment by the subjects. Results from room highly saturated in pure hues. Less saturated rooms produced similar results but less strong responses in the viewer.

Additive primary colors

Red, Green, Blue

What are the 7 spectral hues?

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.

Subtractive primary colors

Red, yellow, blue.

Color Symbols

Red: (western) blood, martyrdom, sin, war, anger. (cross-cultural) fire, the sun, sexuality, evil, fertility, masculinity, festivity. Yellow: (western) treachery, cowardice, light, truth, warning, cheerfulness (cross-cultural) spirituality, the sun, gold, radiance, earth Blue: (western) heaven, the celestial sphere, water, baptism, space, (cross-cultural) coolness, eternity, faith, serenity, wisdom, feminine Green: (western) spring, resurrection envy (cross cultural) holiness, charity, regeneration Black: (western) death, evil darkness, void, witchcraft (cross cultural) sadness, mourning, time, rebirth White: (western) light, air, purity, marriage (cross cultural) death, redemption, innocence, surrender

Hue + Black =

Shade

Binder

Substance that holds and binds pigment particles together.

Third principle of Color Interaction (see also What is Ground Subtraction?)

Subtraction: A strong or dominant color will actually subtract itself from a smaller or less dominant color.

What is Ground Subtraction? See also What is the third Principle of Color Interaction.

Subtracts sameness of shared color.

After Image is synonymous with...

Successive contrast

Carl Gustav Jung

Swiss psychiatrist who distinguished the personal unconscious from the collective unconscious. He defined the collective unconscious as the inner feelings, thoughts, and memories we all inherit and share as human beings. Color associations are thought to be embedded in our collective unconscious.

A raised value of a color is a ...

TINT

What colors are most subject to change?

Tertiary

Refraction =

The bending of white light by a prism.

What is Albert Munsel responsible for?

The book Color Notation System. He coined the word "chroma". 3D Color Tree indicating hue, value, saturation.

What are the three dominant qualities of color PROTRUSION?

The color must be bright, warm and of high value contrast.

What are the three dominant qualities of color RECESSION?

The color must be dull, cool and of low value contrast.

Hue + gray =

Tone

Natural pigments of Violet:

Tyrian Purple: ground from the glands of snails found on the coast Lebanon (the island of Tyre). Highly prized and expensive to produce. Only "royalty" could afford-hence the term "royal purple".

Natural pigments of Blue:

Ultramarine: originally ground from a semi-precious stone imported to Europe from the Middle East - lapis lazuli. The name means "from beyond the sea" because the stone was imported from overseas.

Natural pigments of Green:

Veridian: produced from copper plates that are oxidized.

What section of the Electromagnetic Spectrum is visually available to humans?

Visible light is between ultra violet light and infrared. ROYGBIV

Warm/cool divisions:

Warm: Yellow, YO, Orange, RO, Red Cool: Violet, BV, Blue, BG, Green Temperate: YG, RV

Wet Color Media

Wet Pigments and their Binders Encaustic/Wax Fresco/Lime plaster Egg tempera/Egg yolk Oil/Linseed oil Watercolor/Gum arabic Gouache/Gum arabic Acrylic/Polymer resin

Simulated Transparency

When opaque media produces the illusion of an actual transparency. Two opaque colors overlap and seem to "mix' into a third color (also opaque) creating an illusion akin to colored glass or film.

What is the result of mixing all additive colors?

White

Who was Wilhelm von Bezold?

Wilhelm von Bezold (1837-1907) was a German scientist who was involved in textile production. He attempted to create a color system based on perception.

Dr. Edwin Babbit

Wrote the Principles of Light and Color in 1878 in which he described his color therapy or "chromotherapy" for various illnesses. he used yellow and orange, for example, nerve stimulants.

Color Subtraction Equations

YO - O = Y YO seems to be somewhat yellow on an orange ground due to subtraction. The orange subtracts itself from the YO, leaving more yellow. BV - V = B & BV - B = V BV on a blue ground appears to be more violet. The same BV on a violet ground appears to be bluer.

5 Attributes of COMPLEMENTARY COLORS

1. Opposite on color wheel 2. When side by side they enhance each other 3. Warm/Cool 4. Mixing together makes brown 5. A little of one into another de-intensify

What is Isaac Newton responsible for?

-He put the ends of the spectrum together to form a continuous unified chromatic scale. (color circle) -He discovered refraction.

What are Value Keys?

-The use of values in any given color scheme is called VALUE KEY. -All the color schemes we use can be varied and changed dramatically by manipulating the values of chosen colors. - Using predominately high or low values or varying the amount of contrast between values can radically change a color scheme and its EMOTIONAL READING. -We can describe value keys by combining these two terms = CONTRAST = VALUE

Describe electro-magnetic waves.

-gamma -xrays -ultraviolet light -visible light -infrared light - microwaves -radar -fm radio -television -am radio

Color interaction...

...is an illusion that occurs within our perception of color. Color perception is dependent on color relationships.

Afterimage...

...occurs when the eye grows tired of a given hue and spontaneously creates the visual complement of the hue. Also called contrast reversal.

Two things determine value keys:

1. CONTRAST - we use the terms MAJOR and MINOR to describe the amount of contrast present: MAJOR = HIGH CONTRAST MINOR = LOW CONTRAST 2. VALUE - HIGH VALUE = ABOVE MEDIUM INTERMEDIATE OR MID VALUE = MEDIUM LOW VALUE = BELOW MEDIUM

4 Factors that influence how we see

1. Eye health 2. LIGHT 3. Surroundings 4. Object - pigment/textures

Six VALUE KEYS:

1. HIGH MAJOR: strong contrast of values with high values occupying the greater area. 2. LOW MAJOR: strong contrast of value with low values occupying the greater area. 3. HIGH MINOR: same or similar values - all high in value. 4. LOW MINOR: same or similar values - all low in value. 5. INTERMEDIATE MINOR: same or similar values in the middle section of the scale. 6. INTERMEDIATE MAJOR: strong contrast of values, most in the middle of the scale.

Principles of Color Interaction

1. Light/Dark Value Contrast 2. Complementary Reaction or Effect 3. Subtraction

Hue + white =

Tint

Color Mixing Discs

Device created to demonstrate visual mixtures, sometimes called Maxwell's disc, named after James Clerk Maxwell. Essentially like a toy top with a pattern of two colors in a stripe configuration. The top is spun to see how the colors "mix."

Dry Color-Drawing Media

Dry Pigments and their Binders Chalk pastel/Gum tragacanth Colored pencil/Wax and clay Oil pastel/Wax and oil Oil stick/Linseed oil

What are Natural Values?

Each color of the spectrum has its own natural value. white = 9, yellow = 8 yg & yo = 7 orange & green = 6 bg & ro = 5 red & blue = 4 rv & bv = 3 violet = 2 black = 1 Although the spectrum colors fall into these equivalent value steps in the spectrum forms, they can be raised or lowered into other positions by TING and SHADING.

Colors used in healing:

Egyptian physicians prescribed colored minerals such as malachite (green) or red and yellow ochres to heal various maladies. The Greeks employed color along with music and poetry to assist healing. Colored plasters for wounds were used to assist healing.

Actual Color Transparency

Either the perception or use of transparent colored materials. Actual transparent materials are colored glass, filters, acetates, transparent plastic, and other items.

Johannes Itten

Employed a color exercise at the Bauhaus School that allowed students to choose from paper or create with paint a set of personally significant colors.

"General" definition of simultaneous contrast...

The manner in which colors interact and affect each other. When colors interact, they are capable of changing in appearance, depending on particular relationships with adjacent or surrounding colors. Neutrals (black, white, mostly grays) pick up the complement of the color next to it.

What is the perception of color a function of?

The nervous system and the physiological apparatus of seeing.

What is color physics?

The science of color.

Broken Color

The static juxtaposition of two or more colors can also produce the sensation of a third color. This technique is also called broken color.

What is James Clerk Maxwell responsible for?

The theory of elecro magnetic waves.

Can not change value with out...

changing intensity.