The document discusses color theory and various color schemes. It explains that there are three primary colors - red, yellow and blue - which can be mixed to create secondary colors. There are two main color theories - the subtractive theory, which involves pigments absorbing and reflecting light, and is used in painting and printing, and the additive theory, which involves radiating and filtering light and is used in video, monitors, and lighting. The color wheel is also described, with hue represented by degrees, saturation by intensity, and value by lightness. Different color schemes like monochromatic, complementary, analogous, warm and cool colors are outlined.

1. Colour Theories
& Some
Applications

3. Primary Colors
Colors from
which all other
colors are made
• Red
• Yellow
• Blue

4. Secondary Colors
Colors that are
created from
mixing equal
amounts of a pair
of primary colors
• Orange
• Green
• Violet

5. Intermediate Colors
Colors made from
equal amounts of a
pair of primary and
secondary colors
• Yellow-Green
• Yellow-Orange
• Blue-Green
• Blue-Violet
• Red-Violet
• Red-Orange

6. Colour Theories
1. Subtractive Theory
• The subtractive, or
pigment theory deals
with how white light is
absorbed and reflected
off of coloured surfaces.
2. Additive Theory
• The Additive, or light
theory deals with
radiated and filtered
light.

7. Subtractive Theory
• Black absorbs most light
• White reflects most light
• Coloured Pigments absorb light and
reflect only the frequency of the pigment
colour.
• All colours other than the pigment
colours are absorbed so this is called
subtractive colour theory.
• The primary colours in Subtractive
Theory are:
– Cyan ( C )
– Magenta ( M )
– Yellow ( Y )
– Black ( K )
• Subtractive or Pigment Theory is used in
printing and painting.

8. Additive Theory
• Black radiates no light
• White (sun) radiates all light
• Video is the process of capturing and
radiating light, therefore it uses Additive
(Light) Theory not Subtractive (Pigment)
Theory.
• The primary colours in Additive Theory
are:
– Red ( R )
– Green ( G )
– Blue ( B )
• The primary colours add together to
make white
• Light Theory is also called Additive
Theory.
• Light Theory is used in Television,
theater lighting, computer monitors, and
video production.

9. The Colour Wheel
• Colours on the wheel
can be described
using three
parameters:
1. Hue: degrees from 0˚
to 360˚
2. Saturation: brightness
or dullness
3. Value: lightness or
darkness
(As suggested by Henry Albert Munsell
in A Colour Notation, 1905)

10. The Colour Wheel: Hue
• Hue or Spectral
Colour is represented
as an angle.
• Primary Colours:
• 0˚ = Red
• 120˚ = Green
• 240˚ = Blue
• Secondary Colours:
• 60˚ = Yellow
• 180˚ = Cyan
• 300˚ = Magenta

11. The Colour Wheel: Saturation
• Saturation or Chroma is
the intensity of a colour.
• A highly saturated colour
is bright and appears
closer to the edge of the
wheel.
• A more unsaturated
colour is dull.
• A colour with no
saturation is achromatic
or in the grey scale.

12. The Colour Wheel: Value
"the quality by which we
distinguish a light colour
from a dark one."
- Albert Henry Munsell
A Colour Notation 1905
Value represents the luminescent
contrast value between black
and white

13. The Colour Wheel: Value

14. The Colour Wheel: Value

15. Tone = Shade + Tint

16. Colour Pickers
• HSB, HLS, HSV
• RGB
• CMYK
• Others
– Lab
– PANTONE
Munsell’s notation wheel

17. optical effects of
adjacent tonal values
or colours
link to stroboscopic
effects of
complementary colors
http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/m
ot_strob/index.html

18. Colour Schemes
Systematic ways of selecting colours
• Monochromatic
• Complimentary
• Analogous
• Warm
• Cool
• Achromatic
• Chromatic Grays

19. Colour Schemes: Monochromatic
• Monochromatic:
One Hue many values of
Tint and Shade
Mono” means “one”, “chroma”
means “color”… monochromatic
color schemes have only one color
and its values. The following slide
shows a painting done in a
monochromatic color scheme.

20. Colour Schemes: Complementary
(note spelling--NOT complimentary)
• Complimentary: Colours
that are opposite on the
wheel. High Contrast
Artist: Paul Cezanne
Title: La Montage Saint Victoire
Year: 1886-88

21. Using Color--
Complementary colors are opposite on
the color wheel provided a high contrast
- if you want to be noticed wear
complementary colors!
This painting has complementary
colors and their values - blues and
oranges.

22. Colour Schemes: Analogous
• Analogous: A selection of
colours that are adjacent.
Minimal contrast
Artist: Vincent van Gogh
Title: The Iris
Year: 1889

23. • The analogous color
scheme is 3-5 colors
adjacent to each other
on the color wheel. This
combination of colors
provides very little
contrast.

24. Colour Schemes: Warm
Warm: First half of the wheel
give warmer colours. The
colours of fire.
The colors found in fire
and the sun. Warm colors
make objects look closer in
a painting or drawing.

25. Colour Schemes: Cool
Cool: Second half of the
wheel gives cooler colours
The colors found in snow and ice
and tend to recede in a
composition.

26. • Note the cool
color scheme in
this painting
(greens, purples
and blues).

27. •Tint: a color plus white
Shade: a color plus black
•Monochromatic: one color in
different tints and shades
•Neutral: white, black, gray