Color Theory
Basic color terms
Red hue
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Red tone
Hue refers to the color’s name
Value refers to the amount of dark and
light in a hue i.e. dark, medium or light red
Saturation (Intensity or Chroma) refers to
the level of purity
Shade is a hue with black added
Tint is a hue with white added
Tone is a hue with gray added
Red shade
Red tint
Terms for color groupings
Primary colors
Secondary colors
Monochromatic colors
Complimentary colors
Analogous colors
Color and Contrast
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Figure /ground relationships are basic to all visual representation.
A figure is a subject and a ground is the area that surrounds it.
How much the figure and ground stand apart from each other is the measure of contrast.
The more contrast, the higher the visibility.
Simultaneous contrast occurs when colors side by side affect each other. One seems to
modify the tone or hue of the other. However these changes are only perceptual.
High contrast
Low contrast
Simultaneous contract
The Color Wheel
Color wheels arrange color in a way that
allows us to see the relationships between
primary, secondary and even tertiary colors.
• Color wheels shows the range of
gradations between different hues.
• Warm, saturated, light value hues are
active.
• Cool, low saturation, dark value hues are
passive.
• Some colors remain visually neutral or
indifferent
• Advancing hues are most often thought
to have less visual weight than receding
hues
This color wheel also shows
colors divided into passive,
active and neutral zones
Johannes Itten: 7 color contrasts
Pure color (hue) contrast
Contrast of hue is
illustrated by undiluted
colors in their most intense
luminosity.
Cool-Warm Contrast
These colors can be used to produce effects in landscape. Cooler colors make
objects more distant because of the intervening depths of atmosphere. Coldwarm contrast helps suggest nearness and distance.
Complimentary Contrast
Two colors are complementary if their
pigments, mixed together produce a neutral
gray-black. These neutrals can create a diverse
range of undertones.
Light-dark contrast
Expressions of light and dark using
white and black.
Saturation Contrast 1
Contrast of saturation is the contrast between
pure, intense colors and dull, diluted colors.
Saturation Contrast 2
Contrast of saturation is the contrast between
pure, intense colors and dull, diluted colors.
Contrast of Extension 1
Different amounts of one color are needed to balance
another. The contrast of extension is used to refer to
contrast between the proportion of one area of color to
another.
Contrast of Extension 2
Different amounts of one color are needed to balance
another. The contrast of extension is used to refer to
contrast between the proportion of one area of color to
another.
Color Combinations
Complementary
relationship
Split-complementary
relationship
Analogous
relationship
Triadic
relationship
Double complementary
relationship
Study questions
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What are primary colors
What are secondary colors?
What is hue?
What is value?
What is saturation?
What is a complimentary color palette?
What is a analogous color palette?
What is a monochrome color palette?
What is an active color?
What is a passive color?
What are Ittens’ color contrasts?
What is a neutral color?
What is a tint?
What is a shade?
What is simultaneous contrast?
Which colors make a room seem larger?
Which colors make a room seems smaller?