Color theory Flashcards
Colors that are soft, quiet, gentle
Light colors
Colors that are serious, have weight, and depth
Dark colors
Colors that are energetic, youthful, and friendly
Clear tones
Colors that excite and draw attention
Bright colors
Colors that have refinement, are sophisticated, and are dull
Muted tones
Colors that are somber and depressed
Dull muddy colors
The property of a color by which it is distinguished by another
Hue
-Visible band
-Original standard of color
-Progressive arrangement of colors (ROYGBIV) seen when a beam of white light is broken down into it’s component colors
Spectrum
-The return of light waves from the surfaces
-Bending or folding back of a part upon itself
Reflection
The process of taking in, as in a colored object which absorbs certain rays of light and reflects other rays giving the object it’s recognizable color
Absorption
The lightness or darkness of a color
1. achieved by tinting or adding white
2. achieved by shading or adding black
Value
1. Light - high value
2. Dark - low value
A hue mixed with gray or it’s complement to make it dull or less intense
Tone
Variation of one hue - tinting or shading of color
Monochromatic hue
Not found in visible spectrum; white, black, gray
Achromatic color
Three hues that can be combined to make all other hues
-Red
-Yellow
-Blue
Primary colors (Color wheel - pigment theory)
Equal mixtures of two primary hues
-Orange
-Green
-Purple (violet)
Secondary colors (Color wheel - pigment theory)
A color produced by an equal mixture of a primary color with a secondary color adjacent to it on the color wheel
Tertiary colors (Color wheel - pigment theory)
Colors obtained by mixing two primary colors in unequal proportions
Intermediate colors (Color wheel - pigment theory)
Directly opposite hues on the color wheel. Any two pigmentary hues which, by their mixture in equal quantities, produce gray
Complementary colors (Color wheel - pigment theory)
In color harmony. Two or more hues which have the same hues in common
Analogous (Color wheel - pigment theory)
A triadic color scheme uses colors that are evenly spaced around the color wheel. Triadic color harmonies tend to be quite vibrant, even if you use pale or unsaturated versions of your hues
Triadic (Color wheel - pigment theory)
In addition to base color, it uses the two colors adjacent to it’s complement. This color scheme has the same strong visual contrast as the complementary color scheme, but has less tension
Split complementary (Color wheel - pigment theory)
Any four colors with a rectangular relationship on the color wheel like double compliments
Rectangular tetradic (Color wheel - pigment theory)
In square color harmony we use a combination of four colors equally spaced around the color wheel
-Orange, yellow - green, blue and violet
Square (Color wheel - pigment theory)
Simultaneous contrasts. Any two hues placed near each other. If they are complements they enrich each other. If they are not complements they dull each other
Juxtaposition (Color wheel - pigment theory)
The light produced by an electric filament bulb. Used most often, high in yellow
Incandescent light
Tubular bulb where phosphorous changes electric current into light
Flourescent light
The brightness of the illumination, bulb wattage
Brilliance - chroma
A visual aspect indicating the vividness of the hue in the degree of different from gray
Saturation
Mixing colored light together to create another light
Additive method
The process of diminishing the wavelengths by superimposing two or more color transparencies over the same light source, reducing the absorption of colors in the light
Subtractive method
