An

Introduction to
Colour
Concepts
P 2010 Carlo Mostacci
HSB Colour Model
Hue Brightness

Saturation

The Hue, Saturation and Brightness colour model

allows artists to make creative colour selections.
1
RGB Colour Model

RGB stands for RED, GREEN and BLUE. This colour model is
also known as the Additive Colour Model and governs the
behaviour of direct light.
2
CMYK Colour Model

CMYK stands for CYAN, MAGENTA, YELLOW and GREEN.

This colour model is also known as the Subtractive Colour
Model and governs the behaviour of reflected light.
3
Additive & Subtractive Colour

The Additive and Subtractive Colour Models are essentially

inverses of one another—Additive Colour (RBG) is used on the
internet and Subtractive Colour (CMYK) is used for printing.
4
CIE L*a*b* Colour Model
L
R
Scanner
*
G a

The CIE L*A*B* colour model is an

B *
b

RGB Setup underlying colour model which is

R *
G a
B *
b

L responsible for colour consistency

RGB Setup

R *
G a

from program-to-program and

B *
b

L
Press Profile

C
M
Y
*
a
*
device-to-device.
K b

This is done using metadata called

C L
Press Profile

M *
a
Y *
K b
ICC profiles.
Proofer Profile

C L
M *
a
Y *
K b
5
The Colour Wheel
Yellow

Yellow-Green Yellow-Orange

Orange
Green

The
Twelve-Hue
Blue-Green Red-Orange
Colour
Wheel
The twelve-hue colour wheel is
Blue Red
a subtractive colour model that
Blue-Violet Red-Violet represents many colour rela-
Violet
tionships—similar to a musical
harmonic scale.

6
Primary & Secondary Colours
Yellow

Orange
Green

The
Secondary
The Colours
Primary
Colours

Blue Red

Violet

We start with the three primary colours—(yellow, blue and red)

—equal amounts of primary pigments are then mixed to give
the three secondary colours (green, violet and orange).
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Primary & Secondary Colours
Yellow

Orange
Green

The
Primary &
Secondary
Colours

Blue Red

Violet

Arranging the three primary colours and three secondary

colours in a circle results in this harmonic pattern.
8
Tertiary Colours
Yellow-Green Yellow-Orange

The
Blue-Green Tertiary Red-Orange
Colours

Blue-Violet Red-Violet

Combining equal amounts of primary and secondary colour

pigments results in these six tertiary colours.
9
 The 12-Hue Colour Wheel
Yellow

Yellow-Orange
Arranging the
Yellow-Green

three primary
Orange
Green colours, three

The secondary colours

Twelve-Hue
Red-Orange
Blue-Green
Colour and the six tertiary
Wheel
colours in a circle
Blue Red results in the 12-
Hue Colour Wheel.
Blue-Violet Red-Violet

Violet

10
Warm Colours
Yellow

Yellow-Orange

Orange

The
Warm Red-Orange
Colours

Red

Red-Violet

11
Cool Colours
Yellow-Green

Green

The
Blue-Green Cool
Colours

Blue

Blue-Violet

Violet

12
Tetrads & Complimentary Colours
yellow
Any two colours
yellow-green yellow-orange
directly opposite

green orange each other (like blue

and orange) are
blue-green red-orange known as
complimentary

blue red
colours—they tend
to strengthen each
blue-violet red-violet
other’s intensity.
violet

13
Triads & Analogous Colours
yellow
Any three colours
yellow-green yellow-orange

adjacent to each

green orange other (like blue,

blue-violet and
blue-green red-orange violet) are known
as analogous

blue red
colours—they
tend to blend into
blue-violet red-violet
one another.
violet

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Colour Concepts—Summary
L
R *
G a
B *
b We have investigated
R
L
*
the following five
G a
B *
b
colour systems:
R
L
*
12-HUE
G a
B *
b HSB
C
M
L
* CMYK
a

RGB
Y *
K b

C
M
L
*
a
CIE L*A*B*
Y *
K b and found that each
C
M
L
* system is unique, but
a
Y
K
*
b all are related.

15