Color Theory Packet
Design: project #1
Color is the visual appearance of a surface determined by the reflected light on that surface.
Color wheel and Vocabulary:
Hue = the name of a color (Ex: red, yellow, violet, etc.)
Primary Colors = Red, Yellow, Blue
 Primary colors cannot be made by mixing colors together.
 They are the basis for all other colors. With these 3 colors you can make every other color.
Secondary Colors = Orange, Green, Violet
 Made by mixing 2 primary colors in equal parts.
Red + Yellow = Orange
Yellow + Blue = Green
Blue + Red = Violet
Tertiary Colors = Red-Violet, Red-Orange, Yellow-Orange, Yellow-Green, Blue-Violet, and BlueGreen
 Colors that are produced by mixing a primary color and an adjoining secondary color.
Using ONLY the PRIMARY colors,
color the color wheel to the left. You
must mix your primary colors to
complete the color wheel
Mix all 3 primary colors together for the
center circle.
Please label all colors with:
Primary, secondary, or tertiary
Color Schemes:
Complementary colors = Colors that are opposite from each other on the color wheel.
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A complementary color scheme is bright, alive, exciting, and “buzzes” with energy.
Mix any complementary colors in equal parts gets gray.
Color in 5 examples of complementary colors and label your colors below:
Analogous Colors = any three colors that are adjacent (neighbors) to one another on the color wheel
 An analogous color scheme is very soft, quiet, and soothing
Color in 3 examples of analogous colors below:
Warm Colors = Colors that are bright and near to sunlight (think fire…hot)
 Warm colors appear to advance, or move toward you in a design.
Color in the 6 warm colors below:
Cool Colors = Colors that give a cool visual feeling.
 Cool colors appear to recede, or move away from you in a design.
Color in the 6 cool colors below:
Scales and vocabulary:
Value = Lightness or darkness of a color
 To make a color lighter, add white, (or water, if you are using watercolor)
 To make a color darker, add black
Tint = Adding white to a color to lighten it
Shade = Adding black to a color to darken it
Achromatic = No color. Achieved by adding mixing black and white together to create values of gray
(also known as “neutrals”)
Color in an achromatic value scale below:
Gradual value change
White
Black
Monochromatic = All values of one color. Achieved by adding white or black to one color to create
variations of that color
 Monochromatic color scheme is very soft, smooth, and quiet
Color in a monochromatic value scale below:
Add
Black
Add White
Pure color
Saturation/Intensity (or Chroma) = Brightness or dullness of a color
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To make a color duller (less intense; grayer), add its complement
a color range of one color from bright to dull
Color 2 variations of a Saturation/intensity scale below:
bright
Add it’s complement
Dull
Gradually press lighter
Dull
Pure color
pick one color….
bright
Press hard