COLOR!!!

COLOR UNIT VOCABULARY:

*INDICATES THAT THE TERM IS IN THE GREEN BOOK

Color Spectrum* Pigment* Neutral * 3 Properties of Color Hue* Color Wheel Primary Colors* Secondary Colors Intermediate Colors/Tertiary

Colors Value* Tint*

Shade* Tone* Intensity* Complementary Colors* Color Harmony/Color

Scheme* Analogous Monochromatic Warm Colors Cool Colors Split-Complementary Triad

An Element of Art Elements of Art= The Building

Blocks

Knowing how to mix and use colors is crucial to the success of any work of art using color.

What is Color? Color- An art element with three

properties; hue, value, and intensity. Also, the character of surfaces created by the response of vision to wavelengths of reflected light.

The Source of Color When a ray of white light passes through a

glass prism, the ray is bent, or refracted. This ray of light them separates into individual bands of color, called the COLOR SPECTRUM.

Light Mixing Theories

Applies to Light

Pigment The powdered

coloring material used in making artist’s media (paints, crayons, inks, etc.) are called PIGMENTS.

Can be natural or chemical (man-made)

Never quite as pure as the color spectrum

Pigments used in Dyes in India

Light Mixing Theories

Applies to Light Applies to Pigment

Neutral Colors Not all objects have colors that are in the spectrum. We do not clearly see any one color in them. They are not associated with hue.

White The sum of all colors – a white object REFLECTS to our

eyes all the wavelengths shining on it, absorbing none of them.

Black The total absence of reflected light; it results when an

object ABSORBS all the wavelengths shining on it, reflecting none of them.

Gray Created by PARTIAL REFLECTION (mixed black + white)

The Properties of Color There are three properties

that can be defined and measured: HUE VALUE INTENSITY

Hue HUE-The property of color that

distinguishes one gradiation from another and gives it its name.

Examples of Hue: “blue”, “red”, “green”

Each hue has a different wavelength

Blue is 19 millionths of an inch long Red is 30 millionths of an inch long

Refers to the color’s position on the spectrum.

The Color Wheel A simplified

version of the color spectrum, bent into a circle

An important tool for the artist – arranges it for easy study

The Color Wheel Made of three types of colors:

Primary Secondary Intermediate/ Tertiary

Primary Colors The three basic colors

from which it is possible to mix all other colors.

The primaries cannot be produced by mixing pigments.

Red, Yellow, and Blue

Secondary Colors Secondary Colors-

Colors that result from the mixture of two primary colors. Orange Green Violet

Intermediate/Tertiary Colors

Intermediate colors- Colors produced by mixing a primary color and the adjacent secondary color on the color wheel.

Also made by mixing unequal amounts of two primaries. Also called “Tertiary Colors”

Yellow-green Red-violetBlue-green Red-orangeBlue-violet Yellow-orange

Mixing Intermediates:What are two ways to mix each intermediate?

The Completed Color Wheel

Create a Color Wheel

You will create a color wheel to go in your sketchbook.

Use the handout provided.

Create a Color WheelWhat is the hue and type of each color?

Label your color wheel before you begin painting.

Always mix the darker color INTO the lighter color.

Always use more of the lighter color to start with.

Paint primary first. Paint secondary second. Paint intermediate third. If your color is not correct,

draw a new circle to paint the color into. Do not paint over an incorrect color. Acrylics are not truly opaque.

Complementary Colors

Complementary Colors One of the most important color

relationships illustrated in the color wheel.

They appear opposite each other on a color wheel.

Three main sets: Yellow and Violet Green and Red Blue and Orange

What other sets can we identify?

Complementary Colors They show a maximum visual

contrast between colors. The line where two complementary

colors meet seems to vibrate in a composition.

Complementary Colors

Pointillism & Optical Fusion

Pointillism is a technique that relies on something called optical fusion /optical mixing where our eyes blend colors that are separated on the paper.

Pointillism uses thousands of small dots of color, building up thousands of points for the viewer’s eyes to blend.

(Left) Circus Parade by George Seurat (detail below)

A Sunday on La Grande Jatte by George Seurat

VALUE: A Property of Color

Properties of Color1. Hue identifies color as blue,

green, red, yellow, etc. as seen in the spectrum of the color wheel

2. VALUE: How does it relate to color?

3. Intensity

Value What do we already know about

Value?

Value in Nature

Value is natural aspect of color. Look around you: hues vary from light to dark simply based on shadows and highlights.

Where do you see value in color in your surroundings?

How can value affect color? Value is an aspect of all colors! Every color has a normal value,

which is shown on the color wheel. Example: Red

The value of the color can be changed by adding white or black to the color. Example: Red with black added

Red with white added

Tints of a Color Adding white to a hue produces a

TINT.

A tint is lighter in value.

Tint = Hue + White

Hue + White = Tint Primaries

+ =

+ =

+ =

Secondaries

+ =

+ =

+ =

Shades of a Color Adding BLACK to a color produces

a SHADE.

A shade is darker in value.

Shade = Hue + Black

Hue + Black = Shade Primaries

+ =

+ =

+ =

Secondaries

+ =

+ =

+ =

So Many Colors! There are no

limitations of value in color.

Tints and shades can be made of any color: primary, secondary, intermediate, and anywhere in between.

SO Many Colors!There may be as many value steps between the lightest and darkest appearance of a color as there are between black and white.

Pablo Picasso

PicassoThe Old Guitarist

Georgia O’Keefe

VALUE

Making a Color Value Scale On your paper you must one value

scale – you may choose the color. You must have 10 steps to each scale. Start with white, end with black. Step 6 will be your “normal hue”. Each color must be an even increment

apart.Pure White

PureHUE

Pure Black

Tints Shades

INTENSITY: A Property of Color

Properties of Color1. Hue identifies color as blue,

green, red, yellow, etc. as seen in the spectrum of the color wheel

2. Value: refers to the darkness or lightness or a color

3. INTENSITY: ???

Intensity Intensity refers to the quality of light in a

color. It is different from value (which refers to the

quantity of light that a color reflects) example: light/dark colors of the hue

Intensity refers to the BRIGHTER and DULLER colors of the same hue.

Also known as saturation or strength.

Changing Intensity A color, as it appears on the value

scale, is at its’ brightest. Two ways to change intensity:

Create a TONE – or mix the color with grey.

Mix the color with its’ complement.

Hue + Grey = TONE Any hue mixed with grey is called a

TONE.

Mixing Complements When mixing complementary colors,

bit by bit, a neutral gray is formed. This is because the complementary colors represent an equal balance of the three primary hues.

What are our complementarycolors?

Intensity Scale & Tones1. Create an intensity scale, going

from one complement to another, in five steps. The middle step should be “greyish”.

2. Create five tones of the same color.

(these can be “swatches” of colors)

Hue

Hue’s Complement

“Grey”

Color Schemes & Harmonies

Have you ever said that certain colors “go well together”?

Or that other colors “clash” when placed side by side?

Get out your color wheel!

Color Schemes / Color Harmonies

When artists & designers use combinations of colors to get certain results, they are using color schemes or color harmonies.

Color Harmony/Color Scheme – Combinations of color that can be defined by their positions on the color wheel. Particular color harmonies may be used to achieve specific effects.

A PLAN FOR ORGANIZING COLORS!

Color Schemes – plans for organizing

colors Analogous Complementary Split-Complementary Triad Monochromatic Warm Colors Cool Colors

Analogous Colors Analogous colors are next to each other

or adjacent on the color wheel. They have a single color in common.

Because of this common color, they naturally relate well to each other.

Analogous Colors

Honore Fragonard used analogous colors in A Young Girl Reading.

The color group is yellow, yellow-orange, and orange. These analogous colors give a warm and soothing quality to the work.

Where have you seen clothing like this? When and where do you think this painting was made?

Analogous Colors What other combinations

can you come up with?

Analogous Colors

Complementary ColorsProvides the strongest contrast as a color

scheme. Good chance for them to either “clash” or “pop”.

What are our complementary colors?

Complementary Color Scheme

Complementary ColorsHow has this artist used complementary colors?

Split-Complementary This is made up of a color plus the two

hues on either side of that color’s complement.

Such a combination forms sharp contrast within a design.

Split-Complementary

What split-complements did Van Gogh use in his painting?

Split ComplementsWhat other split complements can you come

up with?

Triad A triadic harmony involves three

equally spaced hues on the color wheel. (equidistant)

What other sets of triads can you see?

TriadWhat triadic colors did William de Kooning use in his painting?

Triads are very tense b/c they are mutually dissimilar.

Monochromatic A color scheme using only one

hue, plus black and white.

Monochromatic Contrast is created

by the use of lights and darks (value contrast).

Because only one hue is used, all the parts of a monochromatic design work well together.

Monochromatic Color Scheme

Warm and Cool Colors Imagine being in a cold place – what

colors do you think of?

Now imagine that you are in a hot location – what colors come to mind?

Warm and Cool Colors When the color wheel

is divided in half, a line separates the warm from the cool.

Using warm and cool can result in a very expressive effect because of our associations with colors.

Warm Colors Warm colors are the hues

that range from yellow to red-violet.

They are associated with warm objects or circumstances.

Warm Colors

Warm Colors

Cool Colors The cool colors are

the hues that range from yellow-green to violet.

They are associated with coldness or coolness.

Cool Colors

Cool Colors

Which square advances/recedes? Which seems larger?

Effects of Warm &

Cool Colors

Warm colors advance or come towards us in a design.

Cool colors seem to recede or go backward in a design.

Effects of Warm/Cool Colors Warm Colors make shapes and

forms appear larger.

Cool Colors make shapes and forms appear smaller.

Color Schemes/HarmoniesReview

Analogous - Complementary - Split-Complementary - Triad - Monochromatic - Warm Colors - Cool Colors -

Color Scheme Initial Design

You will create a 3” x 3” unit with one of your initials in it on plain paper.

You will repeat this initial design 9 times to create an overall pattern using transfer paper.

Each square will be colored in differently using colored pencils to show the different color schemes we have learned.

Complement

Analogous

Neutrals

Warm Colors

Monochromatic

Split-Complement

Cool Colors

Your Choice!

Your Choice!

You must include the following schemes in the following squares:

Color Review

What do you know about color?

Color Review Based on the images provided, can

you locate examples of the color properties and harmonies we have learned?

Color Review Can you find an example of color in

your environment or in the book or the examples provided that is appealing to you?

Why?

Color ReviewHow do we perceive color?

Color ReviewHow do we perceive color?

Light strikes an object, and the lightwaves that are the color of the object are reflected to our eyes.

Color ReviewWhat colors are not found in the

light spectrum?

What is the term for these colors?

Color ReviewWhat colors are not found in the

light spectrum?Black, white, and gray

What is the term for these colors?Neutrals – they are not found

in the light spectrum.

Color ReviewName the primary colors

Name the secondary colors

Name the intermediate colors

Color ReviewName the primary colors

red, yellow, and blueName the secondary colors

orange, green, and violetName the intermediate colors

red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet, red-violet

Color ReviewHow are the secondary colors

created?

Color ReviewHow are the secondary colors

created?

By mixing two primaries together

Color ReviewTo what does the term value refer to

in color mixing?

Color ReviewTo what does the term value refer to

in color mixing?

Value refers to the lightness or darkness of a color

Color ReviewExplain how to lessen the intensity

of a color.

Color ReviewExplain how to lessen the intensity

of a color.

You can lessen intensity by adding

its’ complement

You can also add grey to create a

tone.

Color ReviewName five types of color harmonies. List a set of colors as an example of each harmony.

Color ReviewName five types of color harmonies. List a set of colors as an example of each harmony.Complementary – colors opposite each other on the c.

wheel Split-complementary – a color and the two on each

side of its’ complement Monochromatic – a hue plus black and white Analogous – three-four colors next to each other

sharing a similar colorWarm – one half of the color wheel from yellow to red-

violet Cool – one half of the color wheel from violet to

yellow-green Triad – three equidistant colors on the color wheel

FIVE OF THEM!

Color Harmonies with Pastels

1. Choose a real life object – a plant, leaf, shoe, hand, or insect – for your subject.

2. Choose a color scheme for your design by experimenting with pastels in your sketchbook. Consider the mood you want to set.

3. With a pastel close to the color of your paper, sketch the outline of your subject. Draw the object twice more. Draw them large and overlap them. They should touch or crop off the edge of your paper on at least two sides.

4. If your design does not divide your paper into as many shapes as your background needs, divide it more with various shapes.

5. Add color to complete your drawing. Not all areas need to be flat color – consider blending from dark to light or from one color to another.

6. Look at your design from a distance for evaluation. Add more if needed.

7. Spray with fixative.