INTERIOR DESIGN COLOUR THEORY

2. Hue
Value
Intensity

3. Hue - The name of the color
 Example: Red, Yellow, Blue-
Green.
 There are not many hues
but there are many colors.
 The same hue or color can
have many different names.
The twelve-step color wheel of Johannes Itten.

4. The most common organization for
the relationship of the basic
colors is the color wheel. (It
comes from the early 18th
century.)
3 Secondary Colors—Mixtures of
the primary colors.
◦ Orange
◦ Green
◦ Violet
6 Tertiary Colors—Mixtures of a
primary and a secondary color.
Munsell color wheel. Courtesy of Gretag Macbeth, New Windsor,
New York. The twelve-step color wheel of Johannes Itten.

5. Value - Lightness or Darkness of a hue
Tint - adding white to a hue
Shade - adding black to a hue
“Most people can distinguish at least 40 tints and shades of any color.”
Inherent Color Values Differ
Not all the colors on the color wheel are shown at the same value
Value scales for blue, gray, and yellow with equal visual steps.

6. Changing Color Value
 When working with
paint you can thin a
color by adding
medium.
 You can also alter the
value by mixing hues.
 Value, just like color, is
changed by its
surroundings.
The same color will appear to change in value,
depending upon the surrounding color.

7. Intensity—Brightness of
a color (also called
chroma or saturation.)
2 ways to lower intensity:
(or make a color duller)
 Mix with achromatic gray
 Mix with Complement
New York. Edgar Degas. After the Bath, Woman Drying Herself. c.1896. Oil on
canvas, 2’ 11” x 3’ 9 2/3” (89 x 116 cm). Philadelphia Museum of Art

8. To Make Brighter use:
 Simultaneous contrast –
when 2 compliments are
next to each other they
increase the visual brilliance
of each other
 Afterimage effect – when
you stare at an intense color
and then look away you will
see the complementary
color
Casanova Table and Side Chairs. Domus
Design Collection, New York.

9. Techniques that suggest light:
 Pigment just can’t reproduce
the luminous and brilliant
quality of light
 Its very hard to get a pure
color from mixing 2 colors
Visual Color Mixing Techniques:
Visual Mixing = Optical Mixing
 Attempt to create a color by
placing 2 pure colors next to
each other rather then mixing
them on a board.
 The viewer’s eye mixes them
together at a certain distance
Chuck Close. April. 1990-1991.Oil on canvas, 8’ 4” x
7’. Courtesy Pace Wildenstein, New York.

10. Styles and Techniques that use Visual Mixing
 Post-Impressionists, Seurat and Van Gogh used Visual
Mixing
 Pointillism – technique using small bits of color next to
each other to produce a color.
 TVs
 Mosaics
 Weavers
 Printing Presses
 We use this technique all the time. (Think Pixels!)

11. A harmony or combination of
particular color based on the
color wheel. A color schemes.

12. Monochromatic –The
use of just one hue in
an image. (You can
use black and white to
add variety though.)
Mark Tansey. Forward Retreat. 1986. Oil on canvas, 7’
10” x 9’ 8” (2.4 x 2.9 m). Collection of Eli Broad Family
Foundation, Santa Monica, California. Courtesy Gagosian
Gallery, New York.

13. Warm Colors:
◦ Red
◦ Orange
◦ Yellow
 Warm colors advance
 Represents – Fire, Sunlight
 Implies – Happy energy
 An artist many use warm and
cool color relationships to create
depth and volume.
 It can also create a feeling of
light.
Chicago History Museum. Childe Hassam. The
Breakfast Room, Winter Morning. 1911. Oil on
canvas. © Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts/The
Bridgeman Art Library.

14. Cool Colors:
◦ Blue
◦ Green
◦ Purple
 Cool colors recedes
 Represents – Sky, Water,
Grass, Plants
 Implies – Sadness, Depression,
Night
Archibald J. Motley Jr. Getting’ Religion.
1948. Oil on canvas, 2’ 7 7/8” x 3’ 3 1/4”.
Collection Archie Motley and Valerie Gerrard
Browne, Evanston, Illinois. Chicago History
Museum.

15. Complimentary Colors—Opposite on
color wheel
• Red-Green,
• Blue-Orange,
• Yellow-Purple
Tip:
 Placing 2 complimentary colors side by
side creates a brighter image.
 Mixing 2 complimentary colors creates
gray

16. Analogous—A picture
that uses several (often
3) colors that are right
next to each other on the
color wheel.
Color Schemes

17. Split Complementary—
An even wider range of possibilities is
offered by the split complementary
system. Rather than pair colors of that
are in opposite positions on the color
wheel, the artist completes the scheme
using the two colors on
either side of one of the complements.
Color Schemes

18. Double-Split Complementary—Rather
than pair colors of that are in opposite
positions on the color wheel, the artist
completes the scheme using the two
colors on
either side of the two complements.
Color Schemes

19. Triadic color scheme
A triadic color scheme uses colors that
are evenly spaced around the color
wheel.
Triadic color schemes tend to be quite
vibrant, even if you use pale or
unsaturated versions of your hues.
To use a triadic harmony successfully, the
colors should be carefully balanced - let
one color dominate and use the two
others for accent.
Color Schemes

20. Rectangle (tetradic) color scheme—
The rectangle or tetradic color scheme
uses four colors arranged into two
complementary pairs.
• This rich color scheme offers plenty
of possibilities for variation.
• Tetradic color schemes works best
if you let one color be dominant.
• You should also pay attention to the
balance between warm and cool
colors in your design.
Color Schemes

21. Square (tetradic) color scheme—
The rectangle or tetradic color scheme
uses four colors arranged into two
complementary pairs.
• This rich color scheme offers plenty
of possibilities for variation.
• Tetradic color schemes works best
if you let one color be dominant.
• You should also pay attention to the
balance between warm and cool
colors in your design.
Color Schemes

22. Chromatic Grays—
A chromatic gray is made from
a mixture of color, rather than a
simple blend of black and white.
The result is both subtle and
vibrant.
•In The Magpie, the grays vary
widely.
•This is not a dark, sullen winter
day; through the use of chromatic
grays, Claude Monet makes the
warm
light an transparent shadows
sparkle in the crisp air.
Color Schemes

23. Earth Colors—
•Earth colors, including raw
sienna and burnt sienna, raw and
burnt umber and yellow ochre,
are made literally
from pigments found in the soil.
•Generally warm in temperature,
when used together they create a
type of
analogous harmony.
Color Schemes
Andrew Wyeth, Sea Boots, 1976.

24.  The use of deliberate color
schemes is most common in
interiors, posters, and
packaging.
 But, knowing these
harmonies can help both
painters and designers
consciously to plan the
visual effects they want a
finished piece to have.
Jan Vermeer. Girl with a Pearl Earring. c. 1665-
1666. Oil on canvas, 1’ 5 1/2” x 1’ 3 3/8” (44.5 x
39 cm). Royal Cabinet of Paintings, Mauritshuis,
The Hague.

25. Unexpected Combinations
 Color Discord – opposite of
color harmony.
 Can be disturbing.
 They do not balance each
other.
 Mild discord can be exciting
or eye-catching.
Wolf Kahn. Color/Tree Symphony. 1994. Oil on
canvas, 4’ 3 1/2” x 4’x 8 1/2”. Grace Borgenicht
Gallery, New York. Art © Estate of Wolf
Kahn/Licensed by VAGA, New York, New York.

26. Colors in Conflict
 Certain color parings are
almost difficult to look at
 Our eyes experience conflict
trying to look at them
 They look as though they are
vibrating
 Vibrating Colors – Colors
that create a flickering effect
at their border. This effect is
usually dependent on an
equal value relationship and
strong hue contrast
Annie Mae Young. Quilt. c. 1965. Cotton stiff material:
corduroy sheeting, polyester dress and pants material,
wool.

27. There are 3 basic ways to use color in
painting.
1. Local Color (or Objective)- painting
the object the color that it is in normal
daylight.
2. Optical Color - Depicting an objects
color as it might be seen under various
or different light.
3. Subjective Color - Is the arbitrary use
of color, where the artist picks colors
based on design, aesthetics, or
emotional response.
(Heightened color is the use of color that is
intensified or exaggerated.)
Paul Gauguin. Allés et Venues, Martinique (Coming
and Going). 1887. Oil on canvas, 2’ 4 1/2” x 3’
1/4” (72.5 x 92 cm). ｩ Carmen Thyssen-
Bornemisza Collection on loan to the Museo
Thyssen-Bornemisza (CTB.1979.88).

28.  The color wheel is a
means of organizing
the colors in the
spectrum.
 The color wheel
consists of 12 sections,
each containing one
hue.
◦ A hue is a name of
a color on the color
wheel.
◦ This lesson will discuss
each of the colors, color
harmonies and how they
are created.

29. ◦ The primary colors
are, red, yellow and
blue and are the
purest and most
intense of all the
colors.
The intensity of a color is
the brightness or dullness of
a color.
They form a triangle on the
color wheel and are colors
that cannot be mixed from
any other colors. These are
the only colors that can be
found in nature.
red
yellow
blue

30. ◦ The secondary colors
are orange, green and
violet and are duller
than the primaries
because they have been
mixed together.
◦ They form a triangle on
the color wheel and are
colors that are mixed
from the primary colors.
◦ Primary + Primary =
secondary
orange
green
violet
Red + yellow=orange
Blue + yellow= green
Red + blue= violet

31. ◦ These colors are yellow-orange,
yellow-green, blue-green, blue-
violet, red-orange, red-violet
and are even duller than the
secondary colors because the
primary has been mixed with a
secondary.
◦ These 6 colors are formed by
mixing a primary and a
secondary color.
◦ Primary + Secondary = Tertiary
yellow + orange=yellow-
orange
yellow + green = yellow-green
blue + green =blue-green
blue + violet = blue-violet
red + violet =red-violet
red + orange = red-orange
Yellow
orange
Red
orange
Red
violet
Blue
violet
Blue
green
Yellow
green

32.  Analagous colors are at least
3 colors that sit side by side
on a color wheel and have
one common hue.
 Example- yellow, yellow-orange,
orange
An analogous color cannot
have two primary colors in
its scheme because the
primary colors have nothing
in common
The color scheme creates a
sense of harmony and is
similar in appearance
because the colors have a
common yellow hue.
Yellow
Yellow
Orange
Orange
Red
Orange

33.  Complementary colors are
colors that are opposite each
other on the color wheel.
 Imagine the color wheel as a
clock. Pick the color directly
opposite that number and you
will have your complementary
colors. (2 green and 8 red)
 A complement absorbs all the
light waves the other color
reflects and is the strongest
contrast to the color.

34.  Split Complementary colors are 3 colors
that are combined by one hue plus the
hues on each side of its complement.
• As an example: Choose the color
yellow
•Take yellow’s complement which is
violet and take the hues on each side of
the complement (red-violet and blue-
violet) but not the complement, and
combine with the yellow.
yellow
Violet
Red
Violet
Blue
Blue
•Yellow, blue-violet and red-violet

35.  Double-Split
Complementary
schemes consist of
4 colors, two on
either side of the
two complements,
but not the original
set of colors.
Complementary color yellow
Complementary color violet
Yellow-Orange Yellow-Green
Blue-Violet
Red-Violet

36.  Monochromatic colors
are one color(hue) with
the tints and shades of
that color.
Tint- adding white to the
color
Shade- adding black to the
color
Value- lights and darks of
an object
Tone- adding gray to a color

37.  Warm colors range from:
yellow
yellow-orange
orange
red-orange
red
red-violet
and are colors that advance
towards you.
Cool colors range from:
yellow-green
 green
 blue-green
 blue
 blue violet
 violet
 and are colors that recede or go into the picture

38. A value scale is a scale of grays
running from black to white.

39.  Neutral Colors are those colors not
found on the color wheel but are
mixed by other colors on the color
wheel.
White
Brown
Gray
Black

40.  Colors are often associated with emotions.
Most people have a favorite color, probably
stemming from long traditions and
impressions of color. The feelings one has
about certain colors may come from the
association we have with warm and cool
colors in nature.

41.  Red- often associated with
evil, danger, energy, vitality,
speed and courage. It s
dynamic when used in a
design.
 Blue- a calm, soothing, and
tranquil color, harmony and
serenity , of divine inspiration
sometimes associated with
sadness or depression
 Yellow- a cheery color that
embodies light and warmth. Is
the color of the mind. A
creative energy which is joyful
and uplifting.
 Black- associated with bad
luck, mounful, stark, dramatic
 Purple- a symbol for royalty or
wealth and stands for the
purest and highest ideal. Is
sophisticated and creative.
 Green- signifies life or hope.
Is nature’s most abundant
color. It is the balance
between warm and cool and
the symbol of friendship
 Orange- blends with the
physical energy of red with the
intellectual influence of yellow.
White- symbolizes
purity,truth, innocence,

42. Done by,
T.S.keshava