Colors are what make the world go round. But what exactly are the more technical aspects of colors? How do you apply them? Whats with all the lingo? What colors complement each other?

This is the first in a series of color theory tutorials in which we will slowly immerse ourselves in the wonderful world of colors.

Let’s start at the very beginning. The 101.

Color is the perceptual characteristic of light described by a color name. Specifically, color is light, and light is composed of many colors—those we see are the colors of the visual spectrum: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. Objects absorb certain wavelengths and reflect others back to the viewer. We perceive these wavelengths as color.

A color is described in three ways: by its name, how pure or desaturated it is, and its value or lightness. Although all reds: pink, red, and brick are different hues distinguished by their chroma, saturation, intensity, and value.

Chroma: How pure a hue is in relation to gray
Saturation: The degree of purity of a hue.
Intensity: The brightness or dullness of a hue. One may lower the intensity by adding white or black.
Luminance / Value: A measure of the amount of light reflected from a hue. Those hues with a high content of white have a higher luminance or value.

Shade and tint are terms that refer to a variation of a hue.

Shade: A hue produced by the addition of black.
Tint: A hue produced by the addition of white.

Additive Color:

If we are working on a computer, the colors we see on the screen are created with light using the additive color method. Additive color mixing begins with black and ends with white; as more color is added, the result is lighter and tends to white.

RGB is an additive color systemThe RGB colors are light primaries and colors are created with light.Percentages of red, green, & blue light are used to generate color on a computer screen.
Working With Systems

Subtractive Color:

When we mix colors using paint, or through the printing process, we are using the subtractive color method. Subtractive color mixing means that one begins with white and ends with black; as one adds color, the result gets darker and tends to black.

Color Wheels:

A color wheel (also referred to as a color circle) is a visual representation of colors arranged according to their chromatic relationship. Begin a color wheel by positioning primary hues equidistant from one another, then create a bridge between primaries using secondary and tertiary colors.

Primary Colors: Colors at their basic essence; those colors that cannot be created by mixing others.

Secondary Colors: Those colors achieved by a mixture of two primaries.

Tertiary Colors: Those colors achieved by a mixture of primary and secondary hues.

Complementary Colors: Those colors located opposite each other on a color wheel.

This concludes the first part of my color theory tutorials. The next one will delve deeper into complementary colors and perceptual opposites.

- Til then, X Zeroe

This entry was posted on Friday, September 1st, 2006 at 3:39 pm and is filed under Lessons/Tutorials. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.