Ever wondered how some art is so vivid it end up jumping out at you, or looks like you are looking into a window? Or have you ever wondered how some art depicts a mood, feelings such as cheerfulness, grief, fear, are felt but not exactly seen – unless you know where to look.
Sometimes the way a composition is laid out has a major impact on how realistic, or 3 dimensional an otherwise flat object turns out.
Color plays an important role in determining what your viewers see and feel when they gaze upon your finished piece and, when applied properly, it keeps your rendition of a malicious sea beast from looking like a cute baby Pokémon, or a posh necklace from unintentionally looking like a neon club-wear accessory.
This post will hopefully answer some questions in regards to color as well as introduce to you a few basic terms, on another post I will go a bit further into detail on color pairings and combinations, plus a project you may choose to try out and practice.
Resources for each tutorial, links to read up more on the subject if you want, are made available to you at the end of each post.
Intro to Color Theory
There are many shades and values of each color, while that may intimidate some people i will show you that there is nothing to fear as long as you keep the following principles in mind.
I will be using a color wheel to briefly define a few elements in color theory, including:
- Primary colors
- Secondaries
- Tertiary
- Compliments
- Space
- and Color Combinations
The color wheel will be used to demonstrate the relationship of the hues (colors) to one another.
I’ve learned color theory through painting to better understand the nature of pigment, but I find that I mix or compliment colors mentally even when I am not using paints, such as choosing fabric, crystals, or a digital hue in my work. I still consult my color wheel from time to time.
Whatever media you choose to work in, knowing how to work with the color you have definitely contributes to the mood set by the finished piece. Though the color theory described here has information for acrylic painters, I hope that one would refer to this as a general outline for use of hues in any medium.
Let me briefly describe the differences in Tint, Tone, & Shade before we begin.
- Tint is the result of mixing a pure hue (saturated color) with white.
- Tone is achieved by mixing a pure hue with a medium gray, using a mixture of white and black.
- Shade is created by combining a pure hue with black
(be delicate so as to not make your object so dark that it unintentionally appears as a silhouette or a black hole).
Primary
The primary colors consist of Red, Yellow, & Blue.
Using acrylic paints, I’ve chosen Cadmium Red, Azo Magenta, Cadmium & Hansa yellow, UltraMarine & Pthalo Blue, and I’ve ‘standardized’ the hues by mixing in a bit of white in order to get rid of transparencies when painting – the end result being solid color without it appearing too chalky or milky (This would be considered a tint, using a pure hue and white, whereas a light tone would be commonly considered as a pastel).
The reason I’ve used 2 of each primary color is that I’ve chosen to have 2 sets of primaries, one in warm and the other in cool. Cadmium Red & Yellow, and UltraMarine Blue are considered warm colors. What I find so great about primaries, is that with 6 tubes of paint, I can create just about any color that I can imagine.
In my example, as well as other color wheels I’ve seen, yellow appears at the top. This is because yellow is considered the lightest of the hues, where purple tends to show on the bottom, being the darkest. All other hues fit nicely in between, darker colors placed further down in the color wheel – pretty neat, no?Secondary
Secondary colors are mixes of the standardized primaries which create Green, Orange, and Violet.
For the exercise, I’ve mixed the Cadmium Red & Cadmium Yellow to get Orange, Hansa Yellow & Pthalo Blue to get green, UltraMarine Blue & A. Magenta to get purple.
When mixing colors, especially pigments, one realizes that certain hues are more dominant/wimpy than others, so a 1/2 UltraMarine Blue & 1/2 A. Magenta mix does not necessarily create a standard purple – which would be a hue exactly in between both Blue and Magenta. This I keep in mind when digitally painting, using the sliders to virtually mix hues.
Tertiary
The tertiary colors would include: YellowOrange, RedOrange, RedViolet, BlueViolet, BlueGreen, & YellowGreen, as shown on outer ring of the color wheel.
To achieve this with acrylics, I mixed a primary with a secondary enough so the resulting hue would be right in between both. What helped immensely to figure out when I had mixed the correct hue was to paint a strip of paper, gradually increasing one hue at a time until I felt like I was at an appropriate spot to dry my paint (the acrylic dries a tiny bit darker than what it looks like when wet) and compare between the two colors I used to mix, keeping in mind the quantity used so that I may recreate the hue again.
Compliments
There are 6 complimentary pairs in the outer ring of the above example which can be seen by finding the opposite (directly across) of a chosen color on the color wheel.
- Yellow – Violet
- YellowOrange – BlueViolet
- Orange – Blue
- RedOrange – BlueGreen
- Red – Green
- RedViolet – YellowGreen
A Split Compliment is where one finds the compliment of a chosen color, and from there takes one step either to the left or right on the color wheel.
- An example of this would be Green & Orange.
Another option in finding a compliment to a chosen hue is to take one or more steps left or right from the split compliment.
Color Combinations
- Analogous is the arrangement of 3 hues that are next to each other on the color wheel. The result of such an arrangement creates a passionate & dramatic feel.
- Complimentary uses 2 colors 180 degrees from each other in the wheel of color, resulting in a solid, balanced, friendly mood.
- Monochromatic is a hue with black, white, and/or gray. The emotions evoked by this arrangement create a low-key, silent, calm, perhaps even bored atmosphere.
- Triadic is the result of 3 hues at equal distance from each other on the color wheel. Using this results in a balanced, upbeat, cheerful tone in your work.
- Split Complimentary creates an unpredictable, intense setting for your work.
Remember, that in most color combinations, monochromatic being an exception, not just one hue is being used. Any color may ‘sit next to’ any other color so long as both are of the same value.
Space
Every thing is seen through its relationships with other objects.
Colors can be used to create distance & depth, or to flatten & twist objects. One thing to keep in mind is that dark recedes, while light moves forward. In terms of temperature, cool colors recede while warm colors advance. As far as saturation, the more saturated a color is, the more it advances forward towards the viewer.
In a typical composition, the object closest to the viewer would be placed below the horizon line, and the far item would be above the horizon. Placement of colors will have an impact on space just as the placement of objects does. Colors that are to be considered ‘near’ would typically be placed far, hues that are ‘far’ would be placed near. An example of this would be to place a warm hue farther than a cool hue, so that the warm hue will come forward to greet the viewer while the cool tone recedes – creating an illusion of the 3rd dimension (appears 3D). Happy dance optional. :3
I encourage you to experiment with color, explore the varieties of mood, temperature, and space that colors can bring to your art. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!
Last, but not least, some helpful links to get you started on your color journey:
- Interactive Color Wheel (brush up on knowledge)
- Color Matching Game (test your skills!)
- About Values in Hue
- Video Game Color Palletes
Leave a Reply