Colour Theory

COLOUR WHEEL

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Primary Colours
The wheel starts with the three
primary colors equidistant from
each other: yellow, red and
blue.

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Secondary Colours
Mixing two primaries creates a secondary
color. The three secondaries are: orange,
violet and green.

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Tertiary Colours
Mixing a primary color with a nearby secondary
color yields a tertiary color. The six tertiaries are:
yellow-orange, red-orange, red-violet, blue-violet,
blue-green and yellow-green.

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Warm and Cool Colours

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Monochromatic Scheme
 The most simple way to create a beautiful
piece is to use the same color
throughout, but by using lighter and
darker elements. Shown are various
shades and tints of green.

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Monochromatic Relationship

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Analogous Scheme
 Always pleasing to the eye are colors that
are close to each other on the wheel, like
yellow to orange to red-orange.

About groups of three

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Analogous Relationship

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Complementary Colours
Complementary Scheme: Nothing stirs excitement like the
eye candy, high contrast effect of a complementary color
scheme. Complementary colors are directly opposite
each other on the color wheel and are always stimulating
if their hues are pure. A beautiful, more subdued harmony
can be achieved by using light or dark complementary
pairs.

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Split-Complementary Scheme
 This scheme combines the effect of the
powerful complementary scheme with a
variation on the analogous scheme. It offers
intriguing possibilities in complexity and
sophistication.
 Determine a key color. Then go directly
across the color wheel to find its
complement. Instead of the complement, use
the two colors that you find next to it. In
this example the key color is green. Instead
of green's complement (red), its split-
complements were chosen: red-orange and
red-violet.

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Saturation

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The History of Modern Color
Theory

 The father of contemporary color theory was

Johannes Itten, who published his revolutionary
"The Art of Color" in Germany in 1961. His
work incorporated the ideas of artists like
Leonardo da Vinci, Titian and Rembrandt and
scientists like Sir Isaac Newton and Ewald
Hering.

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The History of Modern Color
Theory

 In developing his theories, he drew on a world-

wide experience that included his study of
Eastern philosophies, the wisdom of the
Chinese and the Hindus and his knowledge of
art from around the world. Itten was absorbed
by the work of the old masters and he was also
a vital participant in modern art movements,
taking his place at the Bauhaus School alongside
artists Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky. His
color exhibits are included in permanent
museum collections in Europe and America.
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The History of Modern Color
Theory

 Itten's color wheel and ideas on color

harmony are based on science and the
mechanics of human vision. He helped
demonstrate the phenomena of "successive
contrast," which happens when the brain
creates an afterimage of a color when we
look at it for an extended time (example: red
is the afterimage of green). That afterimage is
always exactly the color's complement on
the color wheel! Itten recognized that our
brains are programmed to find color
equilibrium and to recognize harmonies.
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The History of Modern Color
Theory

 In the end, color remains subjective and is

always experienced uniquely by different
observers. Familiarity with widely
accepted color schemes, however, will
help the designer create "winning" pieces.
Itten said, "Knowledge of the laws of
design need not imprison ... it can liberate
from indecision and vacillating
perception."
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