Color
Color Theory
1. Guidance: The goal is to predict or be specific with
the color combinations that would work well
together or appear harmonious, based on the visual
impact of specific color combinations. .
2. Color theory principles first appear in the writings of
Leone Battista Alberti (c.1435), an Italian author,
artist, architect, poet, linguist, and philosopher.
3. A tradition of color theory begins in the 18th century
with the notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (c.1490).
4. Isaac Newton invented the reflecting telescope and
developed a theory of color based on the
observation that a prism decomposes white light
into a visible spectrum.
Color Theory
1. Color combination is really the most important part of color
theory and designing with colors, and also the hardest-- It
always comes down to your personal judgment and how you
look at colors. There are, however, some guidelines that can
be used to make a color combination that is interesting and
pleasing to the eye.
2. Too many colors will make the page feel too busy and it
usually makes it harder for the viewer to find the information
he or she wants. It is also more tiring to the eyes.
3. Complementary colors are contrasting and stand out against
each other. Often it is a good idea to use a complementary
color as the highlight color, that is used to emphasize certain
parts of the page.
Color Families
When an image is
being prepared
for printing in a
book or magazine,
it is created by
sequentially
printing each
color plate, one
on top of another,
using the
appropriate ink to
form a composite
that recreates the
appearance of the
original.
Primary Colors
Primary colors are sets of colors that
can be combined to make a
useful range of colors. They are
Magenta (Red) Yellow Cyan (Blue)
Primary Colors in Como
Nicole White Kennedy
First Place Durham Art Guild
46th Annual Show
Secondary Colors
• The color wheel can be
used to help remember
primary and secondary
colors.
• The secondary colors are
in between the primary
colors - for example -
between red and blue is
purple.
• Quite simply, mixing the
primary colors of red and
blue paint together will
produce the secondary
color purple.
a. The black background
increases the intensity
Intensity
of the colors.
b. The white background
seems to make the
purple portions stand
out the most.
c. The orange set against
the purple takes on a
cooler hue, and those
set against the green
take on a warmer hue.
d. The green that is set
against the purple
takes on a darker
shade than that behind
the orange.
Edward Hopper, National Gallery of Art
Tertiary Colors
• These colors are created when mixing one
secondary and one primary color. i.e. blue +
violet = blueviolet.
• Three or more separate colors are mixed (one
primary and one secondary – the
combination of two primaries)
• The tertiary colors are, yellow-orange, red-
orange, red-violet, blue violet, blue-green,
and yellow-green.
tertiary colors:
less distinctive color contrasts
mundane and earthly simplicity
Color Study Eighth Grade Artist
Students analyzed Frank Stella's painting Darabjerd III
and learned about his use of the Minimalist style.
They identified radial symmetry,
tertiary colors, and hard-edge shapes.
Complimentary colors:
• Opposite each other
on the color wheel
•One primary color +
One secondary color
• When mixed
together they make a
shade of brown
What is a complementary color scheme?
A complementary color scheme uses two colors
opposite each other on a color wheel.
Yellow Violet Yellow-orange Blue-violet
Green Red Yellow-green Red violet
Orange Blue Red-orange Blue-green
A complementary color scheme contains
one warm color (think fire colors) and
one cold color (think ice).
By pairing the two colors together,
you can create high contrast and energy.
Complementary colors like red and green
really pop off the page when placed next
to each other and really buzz.
complimentary
color
combinations
Combining complementary colours can give a mini a
very striking appearence. I prefer to use mostly one
colour and then do a couple of bits in the
complementary colour. -Jenova Project
Hopi Gesteland Susan Schumacher
In the image below Alphonse Mucha used shades and
tints of Red and Green to great effect. Monet used
yellows and deep oranges to contrast the blue
shadows to give the sky and his sunset lots of impact.
Potato Pickers
Death of Casagemas 1901 1905 Maurice de Vlaminck
Pablo Picasso
Karen Bettencourt
Andrea Bobroff Peters Collage
Surreal with Maxfield, Dali flavor
Donna Berger
Creative approaches to
painting and illustration
Gay S Tracy
color, motion, emotion
and exuberance
Barbara Fletcher Merill Comeau
mixed media and fiber collage of nature's
cast paper sculpture beauty and abstraction
Wordpress Theme Design by Naoko McCracken
1. rouge, 2. 75.000, 3. red hot chili peppers, 4. Christmastree
Plant, 5. like diamonds, 6. I think I really start to like green, 7.
shiny tomatoes, 8. empty bottles, 9. red abstract
1. Createing Nature,
2. 2. Airplane View,
3. Be slow., 4. Reaching Glory
1. Listen, 2. Sea me,
3. USA Mint, 4. Purple Lusture
Don Hammond / DesignPics