Color

What would our world look like without Color? There have been many studies into the psychological effects of Color. Artists have used Color in such ways as to create a mood or feeling of a piece of work. This is done by using colors realistically and by using colors "creatively". Color is also a very important Element of Art. Here we will take a look at the science of Color, how we have organized Color and how artists have used Color to express their ideas and feeling in their artwork.

Color plays a vitally important role in the world in which we live. Color can sway thinking, change actions, and cause reactions. It can irritate or soothe your eyes, raise your blood pressure or suppress your appetite.

What is Color?

The most expressive element of art.The element of design that is a property of light.The visual response to the wavelengths of light, identified as red, blue, green, etc.The visual sensation dependent on the reflection or absorption of light from a given surface.

The most technically accurate definition of color is:"Color is the visual effect that is caused by the spectral composition of the light emitted, transmitted, or reflected by objects."

The Science of Color

Color is the product of light. A ray of white light passing through a prism is separated into the colors seen in a rainbow. If a room is dark no color is seen. A color is seen on an object or surface because light bounces off the surface reflecting a particular light wave.

A Light MenuWhat do x-rays, sun tanning, the warmth from a candle, TVs, and radios all have in common? Believe it or not, they're all forms of lightSome light you can see, and some light you cannot. The light you can't see includes x-rays and radio signals. The light you can see is called the visible spectrum. The visible spectrum is like a rainbow. When you see a rainbow, you are seeing the visible spectrum. A rainbow is formed when rain drops break the sun light (called white light into the visible spectrum). Isaac Newton first used the word spectrum (Latin for "appearance" or "apparition") in print in 1671 in describing his experiments in optics. Newton observed that, when a narrow beam of white sunlight strikes the face of a glass prism at an angle, some is reflected and some of the beam passes into and through the glass, emerging as different colored bands.

Sources of Light: The Sun and LampsThe sun gives us white light, the natural light. Light bulbs, the artificial lights give light that has more red and yellow. Most fluorescent lamps give light that is bluish or greenish.

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Natural Spectrum – The RainbowWhite Light Prism SpectrumWhat is the color that is always at the top of the rainbow?

The source of light can even change the color of an object. For example, a yellow light on a full color painting will change the appearance of all the colors, such as white object will appear to be red on red light.

In nature, a rainbow is white light that is broken apart by the moisture in the air.

Colors of the Rainbow are always arranged in the same order because of the length of the individual light rays. Remember, we see a rainbow because of light breaking down through the rain drops (sort of like a prism). A way to remember them is ROY G. BIV, a man's name. The order stands for Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet (also known as purple). Indigo is a blue-violet color. Newton was first to divide the spectrum and named it into seven colors

Our modern understanding of light and color begins with Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1726) the British scientist who discovered the color spectrum in the 17th century, turned it into the color wheel, with series of experiments that he published in 1672. He was the first to understand the rainbow; he refracted white with a prism, resolving it into its component colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet. Newton set up a prism near his window, and projected a beautiful spectrum 22 feet to the far wall. Further, to prove that the prism was not coloring the light, he refracted the light back together.

Artists were fascinated by Newton’s clear demonstration that light was only the begetter of color. His most useful idea for artists was his conceptual arrangement of colors around the circumference of a circle, the Color Wheel, which allowed the painters’ primaries (red, yellow, blue) to be arranged opposite their complementary color (e.g., red opposite green), as a way of denoting that each complementary would enhance the other’s effect through optical contrast.

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ROYGBIV

Isaac Newton (1642-1726)

How does light travel?With your flashlight, shine a beam of light down a hall or across the room. What do you notice about the beam? Can you see it? Does it seem to travel in a line? Is the path curved?

How does light "bend"? What happens when you dangle your feet in the pool? Or when you place a pencil in a glass of water? Does the object seem bent at the surface of the water? This phenomenon is due to the bending, or refraction, of light at the interface between the water and the air. Notice that the words refraction and reflection are very similar but have two completely different meanings. Refraction occurs when light passes into a transparent material. Reflection occurs when light bounces off an opaque material. A Prism can be used to break apart or refract white light into its component colors. This shows that white light is a mixture of the projected colors.

How We See? Light goes through your pupil and splashes on the rods and cones of your retina. There, the light causes a chemical reaction. The optic nerve connects your eyes to your brain. It understands the chemical reaction. It carries a message to your brain.

How Do We See Color?

Color is also a physiological manifestation of the Human Eye. When the image of the apple's red skin is focused at the back of the eye, it effects red sensitive receptors to a greater extent. The color is then perceived as being red. There are also color receptors (cones) that are particularly sensitive to the other primary colors of light. All other colors effect these receptors to varying degrees so that we are able to discern a great range of various color mixtures.

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How the Eye Sees Color – Sensing Light Color originates in light. Sunlight, as we perceive it, is colorless. In reality, a rainbow is testimony to the fact that all the colors of the spectrum are present in white light. As illustrated in the diagram below, light goes from the source (the sun) to the object (the apple), and finally to the detector (the eye and brain).

1. All the" invisible" colors of sunlight shine on the apple. ILLUMINATION2. The surface of a red apple absorbs all the colored light rays, except for those corresponding to red, and reflects this color to the human eye. ABSORPTION3. The eye receives the reflected red light and sends a message to the brain. REFLECTION

Local color means realistic color—color as it appears in nature (green grass, blue sky, brown horses, etc.)

Therefore, It takes three things to see color: a light source, a sample, and a detector (which can be an eye).

Color is one of the Artist’s Primary Tools to:

1. To create feelings of form/space 2. To evoke emotion 3. To create variety in the composition 4. To achieve emphasis 5. To unify the composition

The Color Wheel

A Color Wheel is a circular diagram that organizes colors. It is a color circle, based on red, yellow and blue, is traditional in the field of art. Sir Isaac Newton developed the first circular diagram of colors in 1666. Just remembering the placement of three colors can reproduce it: Red, Yellow and Blue. These colors can be used to make all other colors. Yellow is always placed at the top, Red to the left and Blue to the Right forming an equilateral triangle. There are 12 colors found in a color wheel. The purpose of the color wheel is to show the relationship of colors to each other. It also helps us to find ways colors look good together (the color harmony or color scheme). Color wheels also help artists remember how to mix and think about pigments.

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Y YG YO G

O BG

RO B

R BV RV V

Color Wheel

Warm Colors Cool Colors

Kinds of Colors

Color may be organized into a color wheel system that assists in choosing a color scheme, or a combination of colors that work well together. The colors are divided into groups. There are:

1. Primary Colors

The primary colors are what the color wheel is based on, Red, Yellow and Blue and these three colors are primary or basic and can be used to make all other colors in the world.

If all three primary colors mix together you get a neutral or no color. Paint is impure and that is why you get the neutral.

You can mix any color you want using blue, yellow, red, black and white.

2. Secondary Colors

They are created by mixing two primary colors and are placed between those colors on the color wheel. Yellow + Red = Orange Yellow + Blue = Green Blue + Red = Violet (also known as Purple)

3. Intermediate Colors

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Intermediate Colors are made by mixing adjacent primary and secondary colors. They are located on the color wheel between those two colors. There are six intermediate colors and are named by using the primary color first. Yellow+Green = Yellow Green Red+Violet= Red Violet Blue+Green = Blue Green Yellow +Orange = Yellow Orange Blue+Violet = Blue Violet Red+Orange = Red Orange

4. Neutrals Why is gray in the middle of the color wheel? Well, gray, black and white are called neutrals. They aren't colors because they don't reflect a single light ray, like colors do. Neutral colors or earth tones are not seen on color wheel.

5. Compound Colors or Chromatic Neutrals Compound colors are colors containing a mixture of the three primaries. All the browns, khakis, tans, beiges and earth colors are compound colors.

Neutral colors can be made by mixing: 1. Back and white 2. Complementary colors 3. All three primaries together (plus some black and white)

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Color Systems The color systems used by scientists and artists are entirely different. An artist will mix blue and yellow paint to get a shade of green; a scientist will mix green and red light to create yellow. Before you read any further, let's separate the two different kinds of color in the world. First, there's the color you can touch, such as the skin of an apple or a painted wall. These colors are part of the surface of an object. Next, there's the color you can't touch, such as a beam of red light and the colors produced by your computer monitor. Colors generated by light are part of one color system. The tangible colors, which are on the surface of objects.

The following illustrations and descriptions define the different color systems.

1. Additive Color - RGB

Additive color refers to the mixing of colors of light. Example 1 shows how the light from red, green and blue flashlights would appear if shine on a dark wall. The three primaries in light are red, blue, and green. When all of the colors of the spectrum are combined, they add up to white light. When the three primary colors of light are mixed, the intensities of the colored light is being added. Again it ADDS colors to make new hues (without absorbing). This can be seen where the primary color illumination overlaps. The yellow formed when red light is added to green light is equal to the illumination of the red and green combined. Likewise the cyan formed by adding green and blue light is brighter than its components. The same goes for the magenta and its red and blue components.

White light is perceived where all three additive primaries overlap. Since the white mixture results from the adding of three color light sources, the white light appears to be the brightest of all. By varying the intensities of the individual light sources, a full range of colors can be obtained. Television screens and PC monitors use an additive color process. This system applies only to devices employing light. What colors again would mix to make yellow?

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Additive Color - RGB

2. Subtractive Color - RYB Subtractive color refers to the mixing of colors of pigment, such as paint or the ink in your computer's printer. This type of color is what is used in the art and design world. When learning basic color theory, students typically use familiar colors like red, yellow, and blue, its three primary colors. The Red, Yellow and Blue of mixing pigments and SUBTRACTS colors to create new hues. When these three colors are mixed together they form BLACK COLOR. So when we mix paints or filters, lots of colors are getting absorbed in the mixture, and the result is that our mixture is darker. We can't mix colors in our palette and make white. We only get BLACK if we keep mixing different colors; the resulting pigment is absorbing all the wavelengths. When we mix colors using paint, or through the printing process, we are using the subtractive color method. Subtractive color mixing means that one begins with white and ends with black; as one subtracts color, the result gets darker and tends to black. Those colors used in painting—an example of the subtractive color method.

Subtractive Color - RYB

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Color Harmony Harmony can be defined as a pleasing arrangement of parts, whether it be music, poetry, color, or even an ice cream sundae.

In visual experiences, harmony is something that is pleasing to the eye. It engages the viewer and it creates an inner sense of order, a balance in the visual experience. When something is not harmonious, it's either boring or chaotic. At one extreme is a visual experience that is so bland that the viewer is not engaged. The human brain will reject under-stimulating information. At the other extreme is a visual experience that is so overdone, so chaotic that the viewer can't stand to look at it. The human brain rejects what it can not organize, what it can not understand. The visual task requires that we present a logical structure. Color harmony delivers visual interest and a sense of order.

Color Schemes - a plan for organizing colors.- the pleasing combination or arrangement of colors. - set of colors that are used in an artwork, and the way they are combined in an artwork.

Color schemes are used as a guide to find groups of colors that consistently look good together. They are based on the color wheel. Color schemes are used for decorating in homes, fabric designs and by artists in general. Color schemes may be used to create a mood.

Some Formulas for Color Harmony or Color Schemes are:

1. Triad Color Scheme

These are colors that create an equilateral triangle on the color wheel. There are only three colors in this color scheme. There is a total of 4 Triad Color Schemes: A. Primary triad color scheme - Red, Yellow and Blue B. Secondary triad color scheme - Green, Violet, Orange C. 2 Intermediate triad color schemes Note: the words primary, secondary and intermediate are not color scheme names. But they do help one understand specifically which triad scheme is being used. What colors complete the triad scheme with yellow orange?

Primary triad color scheme Secondary triad color scheme

2. Complementary Color Scheme

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These colors are directly across or opposite from each other on the color wheel. They have equal number of colors between them. There are just two colors in a complementary color scheme.What is the complement of blue? What is the complement of Red-Orange?

Red and green Yellow and violet

4. Split Complementary Color Scheme

These colors are similar to the complementary colors but instead of using the colors complement, you split to the sides and use the colors next to it. For example, the complement of orange is blue, and the two colors on either side of blue are blue-green and blue-violet. Therefore the split complements of orange are blue-green and blue-violet. There are always three colors in this color scheme. Ex. Orange – BG & BV Red- BG &YG What are the colors that are split complements of Red-Orange? What are the colors that are split complements of Blue?

Red Violet – G &Y Yellow Green – V &R

5. Monochromatic Color Scheme This is using just one color in a composition. Mono means one and chroma means color. Tints, tones and shades of the color round out the entire color usage for the composition.There can be no signs of any other color for it to be a monochromatic color scheme.Example: You could use the monochromatic color scheme using: red, maroon, pink, white and black -All of these have the basic hue of red

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What are 2 colors that would be analogous with blue? There are several options to that question. What are they?

6. Analogous Colors Scheme

These are colors that are closely related or next to each other on the color wheel. There must be 3 colors (sometimes 4) in this color scheme. You may skip the intermediate colors to create this color scheme. Ex. Yellow, Yellow Orange, Orange

7. Cool Colors

Cool Colors --On one half of the color wheel are the cool colors, from yellow-green to violet. They are associated with water, sky and foliage and suggest coolness. Psychologically, cool colors are calming. They appear to look further away, recede, from the viewer in an artwork

8. Warm Colors

Warm Colors -- The adjacent colors in the color wheel visually emitting a warm temperature. They are often associated with fire, heat and sun. and suggest warmth. These colors would be yellow, yellow-orange, orange, red-orange, red, and red-violet. They appear to advance toward the viewer in an artwork

Non – Representational Art

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Art that looks as if it contains no recognizable or realistic forms from the physical world. Focus on formal elements such as colors, lines, or shapes.

Three Properties of Color

All colors possess three basic qualities. A color is described in three ways: by its name, how pure or desaturated it is, and its value or lightness. Although all reds: pink, red, and brick are different hues distinguished by their chroma, saturation, intensity, and value.

1. Hue - is another word for color and it is basically means the color pigment present. - the name of colors such as blue, green , red etc.

Some unusual color hues, it reminds us of flowers, gemstones, fruits etc.Which of these has a shade of blue, red, yellow or violet?crimson, burgundy, maroon, carmine, viridian, mint, turquoise, emerald, cerulean, denimcobalt, lapis, tangerine, mustard, lemon, saffron, amber, lavender, lilac, mauve, amethyst

2. Value – is the physical properties of color that distinguishes between the lightness and darkness of a color or the quantity of light a color reflects. A color is made lighter by adding white and darker by adding black. Each color also has natural value. From lightest to darkest are: Yellow, Orange, Red and Green, Blue and Violet.

How to Change the Value of a Hue

A. Addition of Neutral White (Tinting) Hue + White = Tint makes the hue lighter Ex. Red mixed with white produces light red or pink

Tints are light values of a color. One usually makes tints by mixing a color with different amounts of white.

B. Addition of Neutral Black (Shading) Hue + Black = Shade makes the hue darker Ex. Red mixed with black produces dark red such as brick red

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Hint to remember these: Tint - Lighter, Tint and White all have "i" for vowels. Shade - Darker, shade and Black all have "a" for vowels.

Shades are dark values of a color. One usually makes shades by mixing a color with different amounts of black.

3. Intensity - is the brightness or dullness of a color. A color can't be made brighter than the way the pigment comes to you in the paint tubeAlso called chroma or saturation. It refers to the brightness of a color (a color is full in intensity only when pure and unmixed). Color intensity can be changed by adding gray, or an opposite color on the color wheel.

How to Change the Intensity of a Hue

A. Addition of Neutral GrayHue + Gray = The color becomes less bright (dull or impure)

B. Addition of the Complementary Hue of the ColorHue + Compliment = ToneEx. Red + Green = makes the lower Intensity

Hint to remember: Complement, Tone & Lower all have "O" vowels.Therefore, there are three ways to change a color: Tint, Shade & Tone

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