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Beginner color wheel theory…
- Chroma expresses the brightness or dullness of a color. It refers to the intensity of the color.
- When viewing/working with a color wheel, the pure color yellow should always be at the top.
- A split-complementary color scheme includes the dominant color and the two colors adjacent to its complementary
- To determine the warmer color remember the warmer color advances while the cooler color recedes.
- Cool colors are soothing, restful, calming colors. (blues and greens)
- A painter's primary colors are Yellow, Red, and Blue.
- Mixing paint is a study in understanding color; it cuts down on the cost of buying paint; and it can help you establish a good color scheme.
- Hue indicates the actual color
- . Secondary colors are created by mixing primary colors. (red + yellow = Orange, blue + yellow = Green, and red + blue = Violet)
- Warm colors are those associated with warm physical experiences, sun and fire. (reds and yellows)
- Tint is a lighter version of a pure hue.
- A tint can be obtained by adding white.
- Shade is a darker version of a pure hue.
- . A shade can be obtained by adding black.
- A complementary color scheme includes the dominant color and the color opposite it on the color wheel. (Complement of red is green.)
- A monochromatic color scheme is a group of various shades of just one color.
Intermediate color wheel theory
- Tertiary or intermediary colors are created by mixing a primary and a secondary color. (Red and orange form red-orange)
- The Tone of a color is a muted version of a pure hue.
- A good way to tone a color is to add a touch of its complement color.
- A triadic color scheme includes three colors evenly spaced on the color wheel.
- When tinting (adding white) to a color, add a touch of the color above it on the color wheel to keep the color looking fresh. (When adding white to red to make pink, add a touch of orange.)
- An analogous color scheme is colors that are next to each other on the wheel.
- The Color family, plus the hue, clarity, and relative value make up the personality traits of a color.
- An achromatic color scheme consists of black, white and grays. It is the absence of colors on the color wheel.
- The reference color is the pure color (no tints, tones or shades). This is also the value 5 (medium value) of the color.
- Establish the dominant color by toning or shading the color and using it liberally in the design; or tint, tone or shade the other colors in the design and use the dominant color in its richest, most vibrant hue.
- Aggressive Colors are warm, exciting colors such as reds, yellows and oranges.
- You can have a cooler and a warmer red – leaning towards orange is a warmer red, - leaning toward violet is a cooler red. An analogous color scheme always has both warmer and cooler samples of the same color.
Advanced Color Wheel Theory
- A tetrad color scheme is the use of four colors with at least one color separating one from another on the wheel. There are several versions of this color scheme
- Receding colors are usually cool colors such as greens and blues
- When shading (adding black) a color, add a touch of the color below it on the wheel to keep the color looking fresh. (When adding black to blue, add a touch of purple)
- Mixing equal parts of exact opposites (complementary) on the color wheel produces neutral gray.
- If the complementary hues are not the exact opposite the results are a murky brown.
- The warmth or coolness of a color depends on the intensity, value, and what color it is next to or compared with in a group.
- The relative warmth and coolness of two or more colors produce color perspective
- Printed or painted colors are referred to as subtractive colors (called because to get to pure white you must subtract all the colors).
- Colors made up from light sources – colored lights or pixels – are called additive colors because to get to white you have to add 100% red, green and blue light. They rely on light to create color
- Process (printed) color is reproduced with combinations of tiny dots of cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink (CMYK System).
- Process Printing (CMYK) uses transparent printing ink in combination of tiny little printing dots.
- PMS (Pantone Matching System) uses custom inks and pigments that match charts for identification. This works great when choosing 1 or 2 colors. For more colors use the Process Color (CMYK).
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