What is Color?
Beginning Art
What is COLOR?
• An
art element with three properties:
Hue
Value
Intensity
• Also,
the character of surfaces created by
the response of vision to wavelengths of
reflected light.
•How
we see color relates
to the visible spectrum.
•How
we use color relates
to Color Theory
3 Properties of Color:
• HUE:
name, identity of color
• VALUE:
a color
lightness/darkness of
• INTENSITY:
brightness/dullness of a color
VALUE:
• Property
of color which refers to the
lightness and darkness of a color.
• TINT:
lighter values (adding white)
• SHADE:
darker values (adding black)
Monochromatic Scheme:
Using only the tints and shades of
ONE color
INTESITY:
• Property
of color which refers to the
brightness and dullness of a color.
• TONE:
dull values (adding gray or
the complimentary hue)
• SATURATION:
highly saturated
colors are very bright. Duller colors
are less intense or less-saturated.
• If
you mix a color with its complement, the
resulting color will be a duller one, because
each color subtracts from the other.
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How do we see Color?
• Color
Spectrum:
 When a ray of light passes
through a glass prism, the ray
is bent, or refracted.
 This ray of light then separates
into individual bands of color:
R,O,Y,G,B,V
• Hue:
 Property of color which
refers to the name and identity
of a color, as seen in the
spectrum
• Link
to Science: Sir Isaac
Newton demonstrated over
300 years ago that color is a
property of light.
• Only
the rays of the
spectrum are visible to the
human eye.
• LIGHT
is the real source of
color-reflected light is the
kind of light given off by
objects.
Example: An apple
absorbs all the colors of
light EXCEPT red. RED
is reflected.
COLORED LIGHT:
•
Primary and secondary hues in lights:
• Is
an additive
process.
• When
all colors are
combined the
result is whitepure light rays
NEUTRALS:
• NO
identifiable hues
• WHITE:
sum of all colors, total
reflection
• GRAY:
partial absorption, partial
reflection
• BLACK:
total absorption of all hues
MIXING PIGMENTS:
•
Most artworks involve the use of
pigments -powdered coloring
material which produces the color
of any art medium. Such as paint,
crayons, colored pencils, ink, etc.
•
Is a subtractive process. They
absorb the color rays except those
we see (much like the surface of
an apple)
•
Pigment hues behave differently
from the hues found in the color
spectrum:
 Theoretically, if the three
primaries were combined in the
correct proportions, the final
result would be black.
•
Primary and secondary hues in pigments:
How do we use Color?
• Color
Theory: understanding
COLOR, its properties, and how to
utilize and manipulate them in an
aesthetic composition.
• Color
Schemes (Color Harmonies):
combinations of all colors that are
considered satisfying, or produce
certain effects.
COLOR THEORY:
• COLOR
WHEEL:
a radial diagram
used to show the
relationships
between primary,
secondary, and
intermediate
(tertiary) colors.
PRIMARY COLORS:
•RED,
YELLOW,
and BLUE
•Basic hues
used to mix
ALL others.
SECONDARY COLORS:
• ORANGE,
GREEN and
VIOLET.
• Hues resulting
from mixing
equal amounts
of two primary
hues.
INTERMEDIATE COLORS:
• Yellow-green,
yelloworange, red-orange,
red-violet, blue-violet,
and blue-green
• Hues resulting from
mixing unequal
amounts of two
primary hues
(basically mixing a
primary with a
secondary)
COLOR SCHEMES:
• Also
known as COLOR HARMONIES
• Combinations
of colors that are
considered satisfying, or that produce
certain effects.
WARM COLORS:
•Hues
in which
Yellow and
Red are
dominate.
COOL COLORS:
•Hues
in which
Blue is
dominate.
ANALOGOUS COLORS:
•Colors
that
are next to
each other on
the color
wheel and are
closely
related.
COMPLEMETARY COLORS:
• Two
hues
directly
opposite on the
color wheel.
• HIGEST
CONTRAST!
SPLIT-COMPLEMETARY
COLORS:
•One hue and
the two hues
on either side
of its
complement.
TRIADIC:
•Any
three
colors that are
equal
distances on
the color
wheel.