Color Theory

• The color wheel fits together like a puzzle - each color in a specific place.

• Being familiar with the color wheel not only helps you mix colors when painting, but in adding color to all your art creations.

• In 1672 Sir Isaac Newton 1st represented the relationship of colors to one another in the form of a circle after he observed a beam of sunlight passing through a prism, producing a rainbow

Color Can Evoke Emotion

• One hundred years later, Johann Wolfgang van Goethe, a German writer and scientist, studied how colors make us feel– He discovered that blue evoked quiet moods

and that red evoked cheerfulness

Bay Side, Helen Frankenthaler, 1967

The Golden Wall, Hans Hofmann, 1961

Haystack At Giverny, Claude Monet, 1891

The Scream, Edvard Munch,

1893

Still Life, Tulips, Emil Nolde, 1930

Voodoo, Judy Pfaff, 1981

The Old Guitarist, Pablo Picasso,

1903

Blue, Orange, Red, Mark Rothko, 1961

Starry Night, Vincent van Gogh, 1889

Self Portrait, Vincent van Gogh

Sunflowers, Vincent van Gogh,

1888

The Magic Flute, Marc Chagall,

1966

Blumenstilleben St. Jean Cap Ferrat,

Marc Chagall, 1956

At the Moulin Rouge, Toulouse-Lautrec, 1892

Goldfish, Henri Matisse, 1912

Woman with a Hat, Henri Matisse, 1905

A Glimpse of Notre-Dame in

the Late Afternoon,

Henri Matisse, 1902

Cirebon Sawah, Gwen Shackleton, 2007

Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?, Paul Gauguin, 1897

Primary Colors

Colors from

which all other

colors are made

• Red

• Yellow

• Blue

Secondary Colors

Colors that are

created from

mixing equal

amounts of a pair

of primary colors

• Orange

• Green

• Violet

Intermediate Colors

Colors made from

equal amounts of a

pair of primary and

secondary colors

• Yellow-Green

• Yellow-Orange

• Blue-Green

• Blue-Violet

• Red-Violet

• Red-Orange

The principles of color mixing let us describe a variety of colors, but there are still many colors to explore. The neutral colors contain equal parts of each of the three primary colors. Black, white, gray and sometimes brown are considered "neutral”.

Neutral ColorsNeutral Colors

Tints are lightened colors. Always begin with white and add a bit of color to the white until the desired tint is obtained. This is an example of a value scale for the tints of blue.

TintsTints

Shades are darkened colors. Always begin with the color and add just a bit of black at a time to get the desired shade of a color. This is an example of a value scale for the shades of blue.

ShadesShades

Color Schemes are a systematic way of using the color wheel to put colors together… in your art work, putting together the clothes you wear, deciding what colors to paint your room…..

monochromatic, complementary, analogous, warm and cool.

“Mono” means “one”, “chroma” means “color”… monochromatic color schemes have only one color and its values. The following slide shows a painting done in a monochromatic color scheme.

MonochromaticMonochromatic

This non-objective painting has a monochromatic color scheme - blue and the values (tints and shades) of blue.

Complementary colors are opposite on the color wheel provided a high contrast - if you want to be noticed wear complementary colors!

ComplementaryComplementary

This painting has complementary colors and their values - blues and oranges.

The analogous color scheme is 3-5 colors adjacent to each other on the color wheel. This combination of colors provides very little contrast.

AnalogousAnalogous

Analogous colors are illustrated here: yellow, yellow-green, green and blue-green.

The colors found in fire and the sun. Warm colors make objects look closer in a painting or drawing.

WarmWarm

This is an illustration of the use of warm colors - reds, oranges and yellows.

The colors found in snow and ice and tend to recede in a composition.

CoolCool

Note the cool color scheme in this painting (greens, purples and blues).

Complementary Colors

• Colors opposite each other on the color wheel

• Ex:

• Red & green

• Blue & orange

• Yellow & violet

Analogous ColorsThree consecutive colors on the color wheel

• Who is wearing a monochromatic shirt today?

• Are wearing mainly warm colors?

• Aare wearing mainly cool colors?

• Is anyone wearing a shirt that uses complementary colors or analogous colors?

• Can you think of an example of complementary colors being used together?

• Tint: a color plus white

• Shade: a color plus black

• Monochromatic: one color in different tints and shades

• Neutral: white, black, gray

Complex Color Wheels

• Create a complex design that follows the basic format of a color wheel while showing the

Primary,

Secondary,

and Intermediate colors

and the various tones and shades of each

• You can take this assignment one step further by demonstrating your knowledge of complementary colors also