Color Theory key Terms

Hue:

Any color in its purest form, lacking shade or tint.

Pure Color:

Color that has absolutely no other combined with it.

Tertiary Colors:

Colors created by mixing a primary color with a secondary color.

Secondary Colors:

Colors created using an equal mixture of two primary colors: orange, green and violet.

Desaturated Colors:

Colors mixed with white and located toward the inner ring of the color wheel; they contain a large amount of gray and very little remaining pure color. They are often considered neutral.

Analogous Colors:

Colors that are located directly next to each other on the color wheel.

Neutral Colors:

Colors that do not complement or contrast any other color. Examples include brown and gray.

Complementary Colors:

Colors that fall directly across from each other on the color wheel.

Shade:

Colors that result when black is added to another color.

Tone:

Colors that result when gray is added to another color.

Tint:

Colors that result when white is added to another color.

Cool Colors:

Colors that suggest coolness; they are dominated by blues, greens. violets, and blue-reds.

Warm Colors:

Range for colors from yellow and gold through oranges, red-oranges, most reds, and even some yellow-greens.

Primary Colors:

Red, Yellow, and blue; the basis of all other colors.

Harmony:

The existence of unity in a design; it is the most important of all artistic principles.

Saturation:

The pureness of a color or the dominance of a hue in a color.