COLOR THEORY

What is color? Different wavelengths

of reflected light!

Name the colors of the rainbow! R

O Y G B I V

How do we organize these colors?

On a COLOR WHEEL

Primary Colors

3 colors that you cannot make by mixing another colorRedYellowBlue

Secondary Colors Primary + Primary = Secondary Colors made by mixing one primary color

with anotherRed + blue = purpleRed + yellow = orangeBlue + yellow = green

Tertiary Colors Primary + Secondary = Tertiary Mixing one primary color with a secondary

color that is next to it on the color wheel They are named by the colors which are used

to mix them…

Red-violet, red-orangeYellow-green, yellow-orangeBlue-green, blue-violet

Primary color – Secondary Color

COLOR Schemes

Warm Colors

Warm colors are:Red, yellow, orange

They make you think of…Warmth, fire, heat,

etc Warm colors “pop”

or seem to come towards you

Cool Colors

Cool Colors are:Blue, green, purple

You think of:Water, ice, snow

Cool colors seem to recede or move to the back of an artwork

Monochromatic

Monochromatic = the use of only one color + black and white in an artwork

Example: Using all different light greens and dark greens in a picture…

Achromatic

Achromatic = using only black and white to create artwork, also called “greyscale”

Complimentary Colors

Colors that are directly across the color wheel from each other are “complimentary”

They look bold and bright next to each other

Triadic Colors

3 colors that are equidistant on the color wheel

Fancy way of saying that they make a triangle on the color wheel

Analogous Colors

Colors that are right next to each other on the color wheel