Basic Principles of Color Theory
Overview of Color Usage in Art History
1)
Local
color
Byzantine mosaics,
decorative art of the medieval, stained glass of the Middle Ages, folk art, Chinese/Japanese
painting.
2) Perceptual color (Atmospheric color)
Started
in Roman Art, developed in Renaissance,
Rembrandt (1606-‐1669), Turner (1775-‐ 1851)
and others, intensively studied and fully understood by the Impressionist
(Monet, 1840-‐1926).
3) Optical color (scientific, divided color into points/dots) (Pointillism -‐ Seurat’s painting,
printing technology)
4) Logical construction (substantial,
return to continuous internal
modulation)
(Cezanne’s painting, 1839-‐1906
-‐
to modulate a color meant varying it between cold
and warm, light and dark, or dull
and intense)
5)
Arbitrary
color
Expressive -‐ play between
warm and cool colors, over and above
those of the objects (Matisse, Bonnard and others).
6)
Symbolic
color
Create a sense of
visual tension and emotional imbalance (Van Gogh, Kandinsky and Surrealists).
Why Study Color
1) Intuition in strong
moments
2) Doctrines are for weaker moments. If one is unable
to create masterpieces in color out of
one’s non-‐knowledge, then one ought to look for
knowledge
3) All great master
colorists possessed a science
of color
4) Personal expression with color supported by adequate knowledge
Bases of Color Theory
We Study in This Course
•
The Elements
of Color, by Johannes
Itten, 1961
(Johannes Itten, Switzerland, b.
1888, in 1913 studied under German color theorist Adolph Holzel, 1919
joined the Bauhaus, colleague of Paul Klee & Kandisky)
Color Physics (Newton, 1676)
1) A triangular prism disperses white sunlight into a spectrum of colors (rainbow):
Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Dark blue and
Violet
Each hue (color) can
be accurately defined by specifying its wavelength of frequency. The light waves are not in themselves
colored. Color arises in the human eye and brain. Each spectral hue is the
complement of the mixture of all the other spectral hues.
2) Light generates
the color: Colors are the children
of light, and light is their mother. An object
does not have any color in itself. A red object looks red because the molecule constituting its surface absorbs all
other colors of light, and reflects only red.
3) Color Temperature:
Standard IncandescentHalogen Tungsten Fluorescent Daylight Temperature
2700 Kelvin 3000K 3200K 4200K 5000K
Two Kinds of Color Process
1) Subtractive
Color (reflected pigment): color resulting
from absorption of light. Their mixtures
are governed by the rule of subtraction. All color, when mixed in certain proportions, the subtractive result is
black. (pigmentary, objects, printed matter & CMYK color)
|
Primary color
of pigment |
|
Primary |
Secondary |
|
Cyanine (Blue) |
+ |
Magenta = |
Violet |
|
Magenta (Red) |
+ |
Yellow = |
Orange |
|
Yellow |
+ |
Cyanine = |
Green |
Mixture of 3 primaries of reflected pigment: Black
(Brown)
Complementary + Complementary = Gray
2) Additive Color
(projected light or reflected
light): All colored light, when
mixed in certain proportions, the
additive result is white. Color resulting from projection of light. (TV screen,
computer screen, web color & RGB color)
Primary color
of light Primary Secondary
Red + Green = Yellow
Green + Blue = Cyanine
Blue + Red = Magenta
Mixture of 3 primaries of projected light: White
Color Wheel of the Pigment Color (artificially augmented spectrum, added purple)
Three Main Qualities of Color
1) Hue (color): The relative position
located on the color wheel
2) Value: Intensity of tone, lightness or darkness of the color
3) Saturation (Chroma): Purity
of the color
Variation of Contrast:
1) Hue Contrast
• Undiluted colors in their most intense luminosity.
• Extreme instance of contrast of hue: red/yellow/blue
(effect: tonic, vigorous, and decided).
• The intensity of contrast of hue diminishes as the
hue moves away from primaries, secondary colors
are weaker in character, tertiary colors are still
less distinct.
• When the single colors are separated by black or
white lines, their individual characters emerge more sharply.
• White weakens the luminosity of adjacent hues and
darkens them; black causes them to seem
lighter.
• Significance: The interplay of primeval luminous
forces; aboriginal cosmic splendor and concrete actuality.
• Contrast of hue found in folk art, embroidery,
costume, and pottery testifies to primitive
delight in colorful and decorative effects. Matisse sometimes uses color in this way
too.
2) Value Contrast
(brilliance, brightness & darkness, intensity of tone)
• Strongest expressions of light and dark are white/black, and yellow/violet.
• Gray: mixture of black and white, or red/yellow/blue
and white, or any pair of complementary colors.
• Tonal differences: Low
key Intermediate High Key
• Significance: sharpen one’s sensitivity to shading;
develop the feeling for proportion; be aware of the relationship between positive
& negative forms.
• Monochromatic color is found in Chinese and Japanese
ink painting. Seurat’s drawings give
the feeling that he is devoting thought to each pinpoint in order to evoke the
most delicate of shadings.
• Equality of light
or dark relates colors
to each other.
• Exercise: Matching Brilliance’s -‐ the 12 equidistant
steps of gray from white to black in the
first row have been repeated for the 12 hues of the color circle in brilliance
equal to the corresponding grays.
• Most saturated
color in this scale: yellow 3,
orange 5, red 6, blue 8,
violet 9.
3) Cold & Warm Contrast
• Sensation of temperature related to the visual realm of color sensation.
• The two poles of
cold-‐warm contrast: Red-‐orange is the warmest, and blue-‐green, or
manganese oxide, is the coldest. The hues intermediate between them in the
color circle may be either cold or
warm according to their relationship with warmer or colder tones.
Cold: shadow transparent sedative rare airy far light wet
Warm: sun opaque stimulant dense earthy near heavy dry
4) Complementary Contrast
•
Projected light: Complementary + Complementary = white
•
Pigment color: Complementary + Complementary = Gray-‐black
a) Two such pigment colors make a strange pair. They
are opposite, but require each other.
They incite each other to maximum vividness when adjacent; and they annihilate each
other, to gray-‐black, when
mixed -‐ like fire and water.
b) All three primaries are always present:
yellow,
violet = yellow, red + blue blue, orange
= blue, yellow
+ red
red, green =
red, yellow + blue
c)The eye requires any given color to be balanced by
the complementary, and will spontaneously generate
the later if it is not present.
d) Stabilizing power: Statically fixed image. Each color
stands unmodified.
e) Peculiarity: Saturated red and
green have the same brilliance.
f) Graduated mixtures of a contrasting complementary as
intermediates and compensating tones unite the two into one family.
5) Simultaneous Contrast
• Afterimage: Eye simultaneously requires the
complementary color, but as a sensation in
the eye of the beholder, and is not objectively present. It can’t be
photographed, just tinged for the eye.
• Any two colors that are not precisely complementary
will tend to shift the other towards its own complement.
• Significance: Aesthetic
utility. (amplify, cancel, suppress, or modify)
6) Chroma Contrast
(Saturation, purity, intensity of color)
• The prismatic hues are
colors of maximum saturation.
• Colors may be diluted
into lower saturation in four different ways:
* Color + White = Tint Color
(lighter, colder)
* Color + Black = Shade Color (heavy, color’s splendor
is gone, deprives colors of their quality of light, deadens them)
* Color + Gray = Tonal Color (Soft, dull and neutral)
* Admixture of the corresponding complementary colors.
7) Contrast of Extension (Area,
size, proportion)
• Goethe’s light
values:
Yellow 9, Orange 8, Red 6, Violet 3,
Blue 4, Green 6
• The harmonious areas for colors (reciprocals of
light values): Yellow 3, Orange 4, Red 6, Violet 9, Blue 8, Green 6
• Converting these values
to harmonious areas:
Yellow: Violet =
1:3 Orange: Blue =
1:2 Red: Green =
1:1
• If other than harmonious proportions are used in a
color composition, thus allowing one color to dominate, the effect obtained is
expressive.
The Color Sphere (Philipp Otto Runge) & The Color Star
1) Symmetrical shape with six parallels and 12
meridians. Illustrates all fundamental relationships
among colors, and between chromatic colors and black and white. All conceivable colors have a place.
2) Pantone color system
for printing.
3) Colors we can construct by means of the color sphere:
a) The pure
prismatic hues, located on the equator of the spherical surface;
b) All mixture of the
prismatic hues with white and black
are on the surface;
c) The mixture of complementary pair are in a horizontal section.
d) The mixture of any complementary pair, tinted and
shaded towards white and black, as represented in the corresponding vertical
section.
Color Harmony
1) Itten’s theory:
• Dyads: Two diametrically opposed complementary form a
harmonious dyad. Two tones should be symmetrical to the center.
• Triads: Three hues form an equilateral triangle
form a harmonious triad.
• Tetrads: Two pairs of complementary in the color circle
whose connecting diameters are
perpendicular to each other, we obtain a square or rectangle. Such colors form
a harmonious tetrad.
2) Ostwald’s color harmony:
• Monochromatic harmony:
Equal whites, equal blacks and the shadow series.
• Two-‐hue & multicolor
harmonies: Complementary pairs in equal white and black Transverse Complementary pairs
Non Complementary
pairs Three-‐hue harmony
3) Munsell’s color harmony:
• Vertical harmony • Interior harmony • Circular harmony
• Oblique harmony • Oblique side harmony • Spinal
harmony
4) Summary of color theorists’
approaches:
• Equal whites and
equal blacks color schemes.
• Analogous color
schemes: The variation of hue
goes no further than four successive steps of
the 12-‐hue color circle, on the basis of color
temperature -‐
warm
or cool tones.
• Complementary
color schemes: Color
organization bases on a set of complementary
color. One color
is given the principal role, others are used in small quantities merely as accents.
Emphasizing one color enhances expressive character, evokes a sense of contrast
and tension.
• Polychromatic
colors united by neutral: Unity created by
repetition of certain colors, or employed neutral colors such as
black, white, gray, brown, gold and silver.
Spatial Effect of Color
1) On black background, yellow appears to advance,
while violet, just as any dark tone, lurks
in the depth.
2) On white background, violet seems to advance, while
yellow, just as any light tone, is held
back.
3) Among cold and warm tones of equal brilliance, the
warm will advance and the cold retreat.
Distant objects seem colder because of the intervening depth of air (Aerial perspective).
4) A pure
color advances relative to a duller one of equal brilliance.
Color & Form
Red-‐square:
A marked tension, symbolizes matter,
gravity and sharp limitation. The square corresponds to red -‐ the color of matter.
The weight and opacity of red agree
with the static and grave
shape of the square.
Yellow-‐triangle: Its acute angles produce
an effect of pugnacity and
aggression. It is a symbol of
thought, matching the weightless character of the lucid yellow.
Blue-‐circle: The circle generates
a feeling of relaxation and smooth
motion. It is the symbol of the spirit, moving undivided within itself. Corresponds to transparent blue.
Orange-‐trapezoid
Green-‐spherical-‐triangle Violet-‐ellipse
Theory of Color Impression
1)
Color
effects in nature:
“Nature study should not be an
imitative reproduction of fortuitous impressions of nature, but rather an analytical, exploratory development and
interpretation of the characteristic of nature.”
2) Majestic cycle of nature:
• Spring: youthful, light,
radiant, growth, luminous, yellow, pink & light blue.
• Summer: maximum luxuriance of form & color, maturation,
outward, fullness of power, saturated, dense, deep green.
• Autumn: golden autumn,
harvest, maturity, brown & orange.
• Winter: passivity in nature, inward, cold, withdrawal, gray & white.
3) Three different intensities of
light:
• Medium light: reveals the local color effectively,
most details and textures.
• Full light: whitens
the intrinsic color.
• Shadow: obscures and darkens the color.
Color Expression
The following colors
evoke certain meanings in this culture. These subconscious perceptions, intuitive thought and
positive knowledge should always function together. They bear some general truth, but may vary in different
societies. They are related to the psychological realm,
mental and emotional experience of the
viewer.
1) Red signifies primitive & fiery strength, inner
warmth, active, vivacity, passionate, dynamic force,
mars, revolution. It can be widely varied between cold and warm.
2) Orange express radiant activity, communication, active
energy, fire burning, solar luminosity,
self-‐respect and
generosity. It could be lightened to beige for a
quiet and intimate interior space.
3) Yellow is most luminous & bright color with the sense
of radiant, weightless & pure vibration.
It symbolizes understanding, knowledge and intelligence. It is most aggressive and luminous on black. Golden yellow
represents the highest sublimation of matter,
but greenish yellow is a sickly color to a lot of people.
4) Green symbolizes growth, hope, tranquility, sympathy &
compassion. It is the fusion & interpenetration of
knowledge and faith. Yellow-‐greens
are joyful, young and
sunny; while blue-‐green
are cold, pensive and vigorous.
5) Blue express relaxation, passive, submissive faith,
stability, grief & associated with nervous
system. It symbolizes inner spiritual life, immortality and transcendental. Darker
shades -‐ infinity; lighter
tints -‐ dreamlike quality.
6) Violet is a mysterious, meditative, emotional, piety color
and the color of dignity. Its tints
symbolize the brighter aspects of life, whereas shades represent the dark,
negative forces and terrors.
7) Gray is a neutral and the color of inertia. It symbolizes
indecision, monotony and depression in dark tones
By
M.Darneshree
Assistant Professor
Dpt of Interior Design and Decor
