Color Theory

1. An Introduction to COLOR THEORY

2. Color
• Color is a property of light. When we say an object is
red, for example, we mean that its surface absorbs
certain wavelengths of light and reflects others. If our
eyes see only the long wavelengths we call red, we
identify it as a red object. If all wavelengths of light
are absorbed, we see a black object; if all are
reflected, we see a white object.

3. Color
There are three aspects about color that you
need to know:
•HUE: is the color we see (such as red)
•VALUE: is the lightness or darkness of a
color (maroon is a dark value of red and pink is
a light value)
•CHROMA: is the brightness or intensity of
the color (some reds are appear bright and
clear while others appear muddy or dull

4. Color is one of the most expressive elements because
its quality affects our emotions directly and immediately.
- In representational art, color serves to identify objects
and to create the effect of illusionistic space
Orange Bowl and Yellow Apples
1980, Oil on canvas
Janet Fish

5. The Color Wheel
•There are 3 primary colors: Red, Yellow and Blue
•These colors can’t be mixed to be made
•They make all the other colors on the wheel
•If you draw straight lines connecting the primaries, you will
create a triangle

6. Primary color scheme

8. The Color Wheel
•When you mix equal parts of 2 primary colors together, you
get a secondary color
•Secondary colors are Orange, Green, and Violet (Purple)
•If you draw straight lines connecting secondary colors, you
will create a triangle

9. Making Color
When you mix equal parts of a primary and a secondary
color together, you will get a tertiary color
Tertiary colors are Red-Orange, Red-Violet, Blue-Green,
Blue-Violet, Yellow-Orange and Yellow-Green

10. Hue is another name for color…

11. Saturation refers to how pure, or how much pigment
Is in the color. It may also be called color intensity.

12. A Tint of a color is made by mixing it with white.

13. A Shade of a color is made by mixing it with black.

14. A Tone of a color is made by mixing it with gray

15. Color Schemes

16. Color Schemes
COLOR SCHEMES ARE LOGICAL, BALANCED
RELATIONSHIPS OF COLORS based on the twelve hue
color wheel. Using color schemes eliminates the need for
selecting colors based on trial and error. They are useful in
establishing visual unity and preventing poor color
combinations.
Learning how to use color is important. If you just add
colors to a picture without thinking about why you’re using
them, the result could be visually confusing.
You must think of the mood you wish to convey with your
work and choose colors appropriately.
Sometimes, less is more.

17. Warm Colors
Red, red-orange, orange, yellow-orange and yellow are warm colors
Warm colors appear to advance (or come forward) in a picture and make
objects appear to be larger
They remind us of fire or sun and bring excitement and boldness to art.
Warm colors make objects seem larger and to come forward (advance) in
a work of art

18. Atmospheric
conditioning
Neutralized
colors
Warm color scheme
The Wolf River, Kansas
Albert Bierstadt
c.1859
Oil on canvas
48 1/8 x 38 1/8 inches
(122.5 x 97.1 cm)
The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit,
USA

19. Cool Colors
Greens, blues, and violets are cool colors.
Cool colors appear to recede (or go back into) the picture and
make objects seem smaller.
These colors are calm and restful. They make us think of cool
water, distant mountains, sky and foliage.

20. Cool color scheme
Color evokes mood
Pablo Picasso,
The Tragedy, 1903,
oil on wood, 1.053 x .
690 m (41 7/16 x 27
3/16 in.), National
Gallery of Art,
Washington,

21. A Monochromatic color scheme uses only one color.
Different values are created by using tints, shades,
And tones of that color.

22. Analogous colors are colors that are in close proximity to each
other on the color wheel that share similar hue and saturation. You
Usually need to use at least three colors in a row.

24. A Complimentary color scheme uses
2 colors directly across from each other on the
color wheel (plus all of their tints, shades,
tones, and neutrals).

26. The Split Complementary scheme is a variation of the standard
complementary scheme. It uses a color and the two colors
adjacent to its complementary. This provides high contrast without
the strong tension of the complementary scheme.

28. A Triad uses three colors equally spaced around the
color wheel. This scheme is popular among artists because it offers
strong visual contrast while retaining balance, and color richness.
The triadic scheme is not as contrasting as the complementary scheme,
but it looks more balanced and harmonious.

30. Color Schemes
• A Double Split-Complimentary color scheme is
when you use the colors on either side of a set of
compliments. An example could be: Red-Orange,
Yellow-Orange, Blue-Green and Blue-Violet

31. A Tetrad or Double Complimentary is the richest of all the schemes because it
Uses 2 sets of complimentary colors (plus tints, shades, and tones).

32. Monochromatic Complementary Analogous
Cool/Warm Triad Tetrad

33. Henri Fantin-Latour
French, 1836 - 1904
Still Life, 1866
oil on canvas, 62 x 74.8 cm (24 3/8 x 29 1/2 in.)
National Gallery of Art, Washington
Local color (objective color)

34. Subjective color
Marie Laurencin, 1925
Mother and child
Oil on canvas
Subjective colors are when the colors do not represent the actual local color.

35. Poplars on the Banks of the River Epte, Sunset
Claude Monet, 1891
The Athenaeum
Local or subjective?

36. Conditioned color & Neutralized Color
Conditioned color & atmospheric conditioning-colors
appear more intense in the foreground
and have a lesser value in background

37. Conditioned color & Neutralized Color
Neutralized color - color intensity is neutralized by adding
its complement or a neutral color, white, black or grey.

38. Local Color
Reflected Color
Tonal Color
Tonal color: the color variations that result from the effects of light and shadow.
Local color: the actual color of an object
Reflected color -any object you look at is influenced by the color of the environment.
These colors are reflections of surrounding objects.

39. Michelangelo Merisi called Caravaggio
Madonna dei Palafrenieri (1605)
oil on canvas
cm. 2,92x2,11
Borghese Gallery
Light intensity
- a color appears
lighter when the color
around it is darker

40. Liubov Popova
Sitzender weiblicher Akt, 1914,
Oil on canvas
106 x 87 cm
Analogous Museum Ludwig
Colors
Analogous Colors – colors that have ‘neighboring’ hues,
contain one common color from the color wheel.

41. Warm or cool color scheme?
Paul Cezanne 1839-1906
Landscape, 1900
Oil on canvas
h62.2 cm , w 51.5 cm
Analogous or complementary
color schemes?

42. Georges Seurat
French, 1859-1891
A Sunday on La Grande Jatte—1884
Oil on canvas
207.5 x 308 cm
Optical color mixtures are when the artist depends on the eye to mix the colors.

43. Local color?
Chuck Close
Lyle, 2002
Chuck Close (American, born 1940)
147-color silk screen
65 1/2 x 53 7/8 in.
Edition of 80
Optical color
mixture
Complementary
color scheme?

44. Henri Matisse:
Portrait of Madame Matisse.
The Green Line,1905.
40,50 x 32,5 cm
Oil on canvas
What are the color relationships in
Matisse’s painting of Madame Matisse?