Color Theory

Study Guide
The Science of Color: Complementary: two colors on opposite sides of the color wheel
- Color comes from the reflections of wavelengths of light on the visible light spectrum. Ex: Red/Green, Blue-Violet/Yellow-Orange
- The visible light spectrum: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet - When placed next to each other: create an intensely vibrant
Scientifically, black and white are not colors (they do not have specific wavelengths) contrast
- White light contains all wavelengths of visible light
- When mixed together: create the color brown
- Black is the absence of visible light
Analogous: colors next to each other on the color wheel
Ex: red/red orange/orange
- Create a calm, soothing effect with very little contrast
Triad/triadic: combines three colors that are evenly spaced around the color
wheel; high in contrast
Ex: red-orange/yellow-green/blue-violet
Split-Complementary: combines a base color and the two colors that surround
the base color’s complement; high in contrast
Ex: blue, red-orange, and yellow-orange
(Base color=blue, its complement=orange, the two colors surrounding
orange=red-orange and yellow-orange)
The Art of Color: Rectangle (tetrad/tetradic): combines four colors – an arrangement of two pairs
- The color wheel is different from the visible light spectrum (for instance, there is no of complementary colors; high in contrast
indigo on the color wheel) Ex: red/green and blue/orange
- Hue: the pure spectrum color itself (ROYGBV)
Square: similar to rectangle, but all four colors are evenly spaced around color
- Value: the relative darkness and lightness of a color
wheel; high in contrast
- Intensity: the brightness of a color (also referred to as chroma or saturation)
- Primary colors: Red, Yellow, Blue – these colors mix together to make all other colors Example: Red/Green and Yellow-Orange and Blue-Violet
on the color wheel ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Secondary colors: orange, green, violet – these colors are made by the mixture of two Warm: red, red-orange, orange, yellow-orange, yellow, yellow-green
primary colors – (R + Y = O; Y+ B = G; B + R = V) Seem to move forward in a design, make shapes/forms appear larger
- Tertiary colors – made by mixing a primary color with the secondary color next to it on Cool: green, blue-green, blue, blue-violet, violet, red-violet
the color wheel (red + orange = red-orange; red + violet = red-violet) Seem to move backward in a design; make shapes/forms appear smaller
Neutral: having no easily seen hue – white, gray, black
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shade: a darker value of a hue; made by adding black or a darker
complementary color to the original hue
Color Harmonies: specific color combinations that achieve certain effects Ex: maroon is a shade of red
Tint: a light value of a hue; made by adding white to the original hue
Complementary Analogous Triad Split- Rectangle Square Ex: pink is a tint of red
Complementary (Tetrad)
Tone: a less intense value of a hue; made by adding gray (black + white) to the
original hue
Pigment: the coloring material used to make painting/drawing materials, dyes,
and inks;
- Natural – made from earth or plants
- Synthetic – laboratory-prepared, made from chemicals