3.1.6: Colour
Colour is the eye's visual response to the wavelengths of light that can be identified as red, green, blue, and so on. Colour has important physical and cultural meaning that the artist can manipulate to make their work more appealing and powerful. Colour systems like Colour wheels were developed to help artists and designers understand and work with the relationships of colors such as primary, secondary, intermediate, complementary, and other combinations.
Colour is most often dealt with extensively in 2D art making. Using one or only a few colors on a complex shape can emphasize the complexity of that object. Using a variety of colors or complex patterns on a simple shape will do the same thing, create a more visually dynamic object.
Colour temperature (warm/cool) can also change how the viewer sees the work. Warmer colors (reds, yellows, oranges) seem active and closer to the viewer. Cooler colors (blues, greens, purples) are generally more subdued and recede away from the viewer. Using both kinds on one object will create interest that relates to color relationships mentioned above.
A primary is a color that cannot be created by mixing two or more colors together but is instead used to create all other hues. The “traditional” primaries (Red, Yellow, Blue) were established in 1666 by Isaac Newton based on the limited natural pigments available during his time and place. Thanks to technological advancements in the production of synthetic pigments and printing practices, we now have a better understanding of color perception and color theory these modern primaries still recognize yellow, but red has been replaced with magenta and blue has been replaced with cyan. Red cannot be a primary as it can be created by mixing magenta with yellow. Blue cannot be a primary as it can be created by mixing magenta into cyan. RBY cannot create hues similar to magenta or cyan.
The preferred pigments/paints for the closest replication of CMY color is quinacridone magenta, phthalo blue. I do not have strong opinions about yellow pigments as there are many vibrant yellow options, such as hansa.
Magenta + Yellow = Red
Cyan + Magenta = Blue
Yellow + Cyan = Green
This leaves us with secondaries of red, blue, and green- which also happen to be the additive primaries, establishing the inverse relationship between additive and subtractive color theory.
Colour
For this exercise, you will need to complete the following color wheel. Follow the step-by-step instructions below:
Complete the Colour Wheel
Mix the Following Combinations
Complete the Following Colour Schemes