Colour

1. Colour

2. Why do you need to understand
colour?
Because the world is full of colour.
It affects how we view the world.
It can tell us when something is right
It can tell us when something is wrong
It can even affect our moods.
Imagine having a bedroom where everything is
bright red or bright orange.

3. Colour is Complicated
• Why are bananas yellow, roses red etc?
• How can we see colour?
• What is a spectrum?
• What is a natural order?
• What are Primary, Secondary and Tertiary
colours?
• What is additive colour?
• What is subtractive colour?
• What are Light and Pigment primaries?
• What are Achromatic, Monochromatic and
complimentary colours?

4. • http://www.livescience.com/3255
9-why-do-we-see-in-color.html

5. What is Colour?
• Colour is just white light split up into different
wavelengths and frequencies.
• Sir Isaac Newton found out by experimenting
that white light can be split up into 7 basic
colours – Red – Orange – Yellow – Green –
Blue – Indigo – Violet by refracting through a
prism or similar.
• A useful mnemonic to help you remember is:

10. How we see colour
• There are three things which will affect how
we see colour.
• These are :
• Absorption ( if an object absorbs all the light it will
appear black)
• Reflection (if an object reflects all the light it will
appear white)
• Refraction ( how much light it refracts will make it
shiny or dull)

11. • If an objects absorbs all the Orange, Yellow,
Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet light, what
colour will it reflect and therefore appear to
be?
• If an object absorbs all the Red, Orange,
Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet light, what
colour will it reflect and therefore appear to
be?

12. explanation of colour video
http://www.livescience.com/32559-why-do-
we-see-in-color.html

14. Questions

15. Natural Order
• To understand colour
it needs to be put into
an order. The Natural
Order or Colour
Wheel is the most
common. The natural
order ranges them in
tone, from very light,
YELLOW to very dark,
VIOLET

16. Primary Colours
• Primary colours are the colours which cannot
be created by mixing other colours together.
• RED YELLOW BLUE

17. Secondary Colours
• Secondary colours are made by mixing two
Primary colours together.

18. Tertiary Colours
• Tertiary colours are made by mixing a Primary
and a secondary colour together.

19. Different primary colours

20. Hues
A hue is the correct name for a pure colour.
These colours can be primary, secondary or tertiary colours

21. Shades
• By adding black to a colour or hue we can
produce a shade

22. Tints
• Adding white to a colour or hue produces a Tint,
sometimes also called a soft or light colour

23. Absorbancy
• As light colours absorb more light a room
paint in a darker colour will appear to be
darker

24. Achromatic Colours
• Achromatic do not have a hue and are based
on greys, blacks and whites. Neutral colours.

25. Monochromatic Colours
These are tints and
shades based on one
hue.

26. Advancing Colours
• These are from the yellow to red part of the
colour card. They appear warmer and closer.

27. Complementary colours
• Colours that lie
opposite each other
in the Colour circle
that look pleasing
together

28. Harmonious or Analogous Colours
• Related colours that
lie next to each other
in the colour circle

29. Warm and Cold colours
• Warm colours from
the Yellow-Red half of
the colour circle give
the impression of
warmth
• Cold colours from the
Green-Purple half of
the colour circle give
the impression of
Coldness

30. Videos and websites
• Dulux colour video
• Visualiser app video
• Paint quality site
• Interactive colour wheel

31. Tungsten lighting
• Also known as incandescent bulb
• Tungsten lighting gives a warm yellow
illumination which dulls down cool colours
• Uses a filament and can be used with a
daylight filter

32. Fluorescent
• Fluorescent Lighting tubes
• Flicker
• Give a harsh greenish light
• Can now get warm pinkish light

33. Low Pressure Sodium
• Low Pressure Sodium
Vapour lamp
• Soft Yellow light,
• Used in street lamps
• Cheap to run

34. High Pressure Sodium
• High Pressure
Sodium Vapour
lamp
• Pinkish orange light
• Used in cafes and
restaurants.

35. Mercury Vapour
• Mercury Vapour lamp
• Bluish light
• Used in areas which
require powerful lights

36. LED
• LED (Light Emitting Diode)-
emits light when an electrical
current is passed through it.
• Directional beam of light, used
for task lighting.
• Fittings often use multiple LEDs
for larger spread of light.
• Typically white light enhancing
all colours

37. Halogen
• Produces a very attractive bright
light that closely resembles
sunlight.
• Halogen bulbs have a tungsten
filament and are filled with a
mixture of argon and halogen gas.
• Can be used in spotlights and
other directional light fittings.
• Typically white light therefore
enhancing all colours

38. Eco Lighting
• ECO efficient, energy saving,
long lasting, replacement for
standard tungsten bulbs and
fluorescent tubes
• CFC – (compact fluorescent)
range of colours, often warm
glow from fluorescent type.
• LED and Halogen, generally
white light

39. BS 4800 Paint colours for building
purposes

40. BS 4800

41. BS 4800

42. BS 4800 Range
• 02 Red/Purple 16 Blue/Green
• 04 Red 18 Blue
• 06 Red/Yellow 20 Blue/Purple
• 08 Yellow/Red 22 Purple
• 10 Yellow 24 Purple/Red
• 12 Yellow/Green
• 14 Green

43. Munsell colour systems
• Contains 960 colours
• Hues, Chroma, Value
• International System
• Helped to make BS 4800
• Written in the form
5Y8/14

44. Hues
• Y – YR – R – RP – P –
Yellow
• Yellow Red
• Red
• Red Purple
• Purple
PB – B – BG – G – GY
• Purple Blue
• Blue
• Blue/Green
• Green
• Green Yellow

45. Value
• Value represents light and darkness
• Split from 0 – 10 0 = Black 10 = White

46. Chroma
• Chroma represents greyness
• 0 = neutral grey 14 = pure grey

47. Identifying a colour by a code
Find 5YR 7/8

48. Knowledge check
• Question 1: Describe what is meant by
Monochromatic colour scheme ?
• Question 2: Describe what is meant by an
Achromatic colour scheme ?
• Question 3: Describe what is meant by a
Complementary colour scheme ?
• Question 4: Describe what is meant by a
Harmonious colour scheme ?
• Question 5: Give another name for a Harmonious
colour scheme ?

49. Close one eye and hold a finger up to cover the
join between the two squares

50. If you are interested in COLOUR…
• http://www.worqx.com/color/index.htm
• http://www.dulux.co.uk/studio/mousepainter/index.jsp
• http://colorschemedesigner.com/
• http://www.jaimetreadwell.com/Dccc-Munsell-color-chart-
system.htm
• http://www.daicolor.co.jp/english/color_e/color_e01.html

51. Hue test
• Munsell Hue Test