Color theory

In the visual arts, color theory is a body of practical guidance to color mixing and the visual effects of a
specific color combination. Color terminology based on the color wheel and its geometry separates colors
into primary color, secondary color, and tertiary color. Understanding color theory dates to antiquity.
Aristotle (d. 322 BCE) and Claudius Ptolemy (d. 168 CE) already discussed which and how colors can be
produced by mixing other colors. The influence of light on color was investigated and revealed further by
al-Kindi (d. 873) and Ibn al-Haytham (d.1039). Ibn Sina (d. 1037), Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (d. 1274) and
Robert Grosseteste (d. 1253) discovered that contrary to the teachings of Aristotle, there are multiple color
paths to get from black to white[1].
[2]
More modern approaches to color theory principles can be found in
the writings of Leone Battista Alberti (c. 1435) and the notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (c. 1490). A
formalization of "color theory" began in the 18th century, initially within a partisan controversy over Isaac
Newton's theory of color (Opticks, 1704) and the nature of primary colors. From there it developed as an
independent artistic tradition with only superficial reference to colorimetry and vision science.

The application of color theory ranges from ancient Egyptian uses to modern commercial advertising.
Colors affect our mood and perception. In ancient civilizations, color was explored for its healing
properties. Phototherapy (light therapy) was practiced in ancient Egypt, Greece, China and India. The
Egyptians utilized sunlight as well as color for healing.[3] Color has been investigated for its healing
potential since 2000 BC.[4]

Contents
Classifications
Color abstractions
Historical background
Traditional color theory
Complementary colors
Warm vs. cool colors
Achromatic colors
Tints and shades
Split primary colors
Color harmony
Monochromatic
Current status
See also
References
External links

Classifications
Color can be classified according to

1. Warm and Cold

2. Receding and Advancing
3. Positive and negative
4. Subtractive and additive

Color abstractions
The foundations of pre-20th-century color theory
were built around "pure" or ideal colors,
characterized by different sensory experiences rather
than attributes of the physical world. This has led to a
number of inaccuracies in traditional color theory
principles that are not always remedied in modern
formulations.[5]

Another issue has been the tendency to describe color Additive color mixing Subtractive color mixing
effects holistically or categorically, for example as a (such as in a computer) (such as in a printer)
contrast between "yellow" and "blue" conceived as
generic colors, when most color effects are due to
contrasts on three relative attributes which define all colors:

1. Value (light vs. dark, or white vs. black),

2. Chroma [saturation, purity, strength, intensity] (intense vs. dull), and
3. Hue (e.g. the name of the color family: red, yellow, green, cyan, blue, magenta).

The visual impact of "yellow" vs. "blue" hues in visual design depends on the relative lightness and
saturation of the hues.

These confusions are partly historical and arose in scientific uncertainty about the color perception that was
not resolved until the late 19th-century when the artistic notions were already entrenched. They also arise
from the attempt to describe the highly contextual and flexible behavior of color perception in terms of
abstract color sensations that can be generated equivalently by any visual media.

Many historical "color theorists" have assumed that three "pure" primary colors can mix into all possible
colors, and any failure of specific paints or inks to match this ideal performance is due to the impurity or
imperfection of the colorants. In reality, only imaginary "primary colors" used in colorimetry can "mix" or
quantify all visible (perceptually possible) colors; but to do this, these imaginary primaries are defined as
lying outside the range of visible colors; i.e., they cannot be seen. Any three real "primary" colors of light,
paint or ink can mix only a limited range of colors, called a gamut, which is always smaller (contains fewer
colors) than the full range of colors humans can perceive.[6]

Historical background
Color theory was originally formulated in terms of three "primary" or "primitive" colors—red, yellow and
blue (RYB)—because these colors were believed capable of mixing all other colors.[7]
The RYB primary colors became the foundation of 18th-century
theories of color vision, as the fundamental sensory qualities that
are blended in the perception of all physical colors, and conversely,
in the physical mixture of pigments or dyes. These theories were
enhanced by 18th-century investigations of a variety of purely
psychological color effects, in particular the contrast between
"complementary" or opposing hues that are produced by color
afterimages and in the contrasting shadows in colored light. These
ideas and many personal color observations were summarized in
two founding documents in color theory: the Theory of Colours
(1810) by the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and The
Law of Simultaneous Color Contrast (1839) by the French
industrial chemist Michel Eugène Chevreul. Charles Hayter
Goethe's color wheel from his 1810
published A New Practical Treatise on the Three Primitive Colours
Theory of Colours
Assumed as a Perfect System of Rudimentary Information (London
1826), in which he described how all colors could be obtained from
just three.

Subsequently, German and English scientists established in the late

19th century that color perception is best described in terms of a
different set of primary colors—red, green and blue-violet (RGB)
—modeled through the additive mixture of three monochromatic
lights. Subsequent research anchored these primary colors in the
differing responses to light by three types of color receptors or
cones in the retina (trichromacy). On this basis the quantitative
description of the color mixture or colorimetry developed in the
early 20th century, along with a series of increasingly sophisticated
models of color space and color perception, such as the opponent
process theory.

Across the same period, industrial chemistry radically expanded the

color range of lightfast synthetic pigments, allowing for
substantially improved saturation in color mixtures of dyes, paints,
and inks. It also created the dyes and chemical processes necessary
for color photography. As a result, three-color printing became
aesthetically and economically feasible in mass printed media, and
the artists' color theory was adapted to primary colors most
effective in inks or photographic dyes: cyan, magenta, and yellow Page from 1826 A New Practical
(CMY). (In printing, dark colors are supplemented by black ink, Treatise on the Three Primitive
known as the CMYK system; in both printing and photography, Colours Assumed as a Perfect
white is provided by the color of the paper.) These CMY primary System of Rudimentary Information
colors were reconciled with the RGB primaries, and subtractive by Charles Hayter
color mixing with additive color mixing, by defining the CMY
primaries as substances that absorbed only one of the retinal
primary colors: cyan absorbs only red (−R+G+B), magenta only green (+R−G+B), and yellow only blue-
violet (+R+G−B). It is important to add that the CMYK, or process, color printing is meant as an
economical way of producing a wide range of colors for printing, but is deficient in reproducing certain
colors, notably orange and slightly deficient in reproducing purples. A wider range of colors can be
obtained with the addition of other colors to the printing process, such as in Pantone's Hexachrome printing
ink system (six colors), among others.
For much of the 19th-century artistic color theory either lagged
behind scientific understanding or was augmented by science
books written for the lay public, in particular Modern Chromatics
(1879) by the American physicist Ogden Rood, and early color
atlases developed by Albert Munsell (Munsell Book of Color, 1915,
see Munsell color system) and Wilhelm Ostwald (Color Atlas,
1919). Major advances were made in the early 20th century by
artists teaching or associated with the German Bauhaus, in
particular Wassily Kandinsky, Johannes Itten, Faber Birren and
Josef Albers, whose writings mix speculation with an empirical or
demonstration-based study of color design principles.

Traditional color theory Munsell's 1905 color system

represented as a three-dimensional
solid showing all three color making
attributes: lightness, saturation and
Complementary colors hue.

For the mixing of colored light, Isaac Newton's color

wheel is often used to describe complementary colors,
which are colors that cancel each other's hue to
produce an achromatic (white, gray or black) light
mixture. Newton offered as a conjecture that colors
exactly opposite one another on the hue circle cancel
out each other's hue; this concept was demonstrated
more thoroughly in the 19th century. An example of
complementary colors would be red and green[8]

A key assumption in Newton's hue circle was that the

"fiery" or maximum saturated hues are located on the
outer circumference of the circle, while achromatic
white is at the center. Then the saturation of the
mixture of two spectral hues was predicted by the
straight line between them; the mixture of three colors
was predicted by the "center of gravity" or centroid of
three triangle points, and so on. Chevreul's 1855 "chromatic diagram" based on the
RYB color model, showing complementary colors
According to traditional color theory based on and other relationships
subtractive primary colors and the RYB color model,
yellow mixed with purple, orange mixed with blue, or
red mixed with green produces an equivalent gray and are the painter's complementary colors. These
contrasts form the basis of Chevreul's law of color contrast: colors that appear together will be altered as if
mixed with the complementary color of the other color. A piece of yellow fabric placed on a blue
background will appear tinted orange because orange is the complementary color to blue.

However, when complementary colors are chosen based on the definition by light mixture, they are not the
same as the artists' primary colors. This discrepancy becomes important when color theory is applied across
media. Digital color management uses a hue circle defined according to additive primary colors (the RGB
color model), as the colors in a computer monitor are additive mixtures of light, not subtractive mixtures of
paints.
One reason the artist's primary colors work at all is due to the
imperfect pigments being used have sloped absorption curves, and
change color with concentration. A pigment that is pure red at high
concentrations can behave more like magenta at low
concentrations. This allows it to make purples that would otherwise
be impossible. Likewise, a blue that is ultramarine at high
concentrations appears cyan at low concentrations, allowing it to be
used to mix green. Chromium red pigments can appear orange, and
then yellow, as the concentration is reduced. It is even possible to
mix very low concentrations of the blue mentioned and the
chromium red to get a greenish color. This works much better with
oil colors than it does with watercolors and dyes.
Primary, secondary, and tertiary
The old primaries depend on sloped absorption curves and pigment colors of the RYB color model
leakages to work, while newer scientifically derived ones depend
solely on controlling the amount of absorption in certain parts of the
spectrum.

Another reason the correct primary colors were not used by early artists is they were not available as
durable pigments. Modern methods in chemistry were needed to produce them.

Warm vs. cool colors

The distinction between "warm" and "cool" colors has been important since at least the late 18th century.[9]
The difference (as traced by etymologies in the Oxford English Dictionary), seems related to the observed
contrast in landscape light, between the "warm" colors associated with daylight or sunset, and the "cool"
colors associated with a gray or overcast day. Warm colors are often said to be hues from red through
yellow, browns, and tans included; cool colors are often said to be the hues from blue-green through blue
violet, most grays included. There is a historical disagreement about the colors that anchor the polarity, but
19th-century sources put the peak contrast between red-orange and greenish-blue.

Color theory has described perceptual and psychological effects to this contrast. Warm colors are said to
advance or appear more active in a painting, while cool colors tend to recede; used in interior design or
fashion, warm colors are said to arouse or stimulate the viewer, while cool colors calm and relax.[10] Most
of these effects, to the extent they are real, can be attributed to the higher saturation and lighter value of
warm pigments in contrast to cool pigments; brown is a dark, unsaturated warm color that few people think
of as visually active or psychologically arousing.

The traditional warm/cool association of a color is reversed relative to the color temperature of a theoretical
radiating black body; the hottest stars radiate blue (cool) light, and the coolest radiate red (warm) light.

The hottest radiating bodies (e.g. stars) have a "cool" color, while the less hot bodies radiate
with a "warm" color. (image is in Kelvin scale)
This contrast is further seen in the psychological associations of
colors with the Doppler effect seen in astronomical objects.
Traditional psychological associations, where warm colors are
associated with advancing objects and cool colors with receding
objects, are directly opposite those seen in astrophysics, where stars
or galaxies moving towards our viewpoint on Earth are blueshifted
(advancing) and stars or galaxies moving away from Earth are
redshifted (receding).
Doppler redshift for receding and
blueshift for advancing
Achromatic colors

Any color that lacks strong chromatic content is said to be unsaturated, achromatic, near-neutral, or
neutral. Near neutrals include browns, tans, pastels, and darker colors. Near neutrals can be of any hue or
lightness. Pure achromatic, or neutral colors include black, white and all grays.

Near neutrals are obtained by mixing pure colors with white, black or grey, or by mixing two
complementary colors. In color theory, neutral colors are easily modified by adjacent more saturated colors
and they appear to take on the hue complementary to the saturated color; e.g., next to a bright red couch, a
gray wall will appear distinctly greenish, This is a property of human vision.

Black and white have long been known to combine "well" with almost any other colors; black decreases
the apparent saturation or brightness of colors paired with it and white shows off all hues to equal effect.

Tints and shades

When mixing colored light (additive color models), the achromatic mixture of spectrally balanced red,
green, and blue (RGB) is always white, not gray or black. When we mix colorants, such as the pigments in
paint mixtures, a color is produced which is always darker and lower in chroma, or saturation, than the
parent colors. This moves the mixed color toward a neutral color—a gray or near-black. Lights are made
brighter or dimmer by adjusting their brightness, or energy level; in painting, lightness is adjusted through
mixture with white, black, or a color's complement.

It is common among some painters to darken a paint color by adding black paint—producing colors called
shades—or lighten a color by adding white—producing colors called tints. However, it is not always the
best way for representational painting, as an unfortunate result is for colors to also shift in hue. For instance,
darkening a color by adding black can cause colors such as yellows, reds, and oranges, to shift toward the
greenish or bluish part of the spectrum. Lightening a color by adding white can cause a shift towards blue
when mixed with reds and oranges. Another practice when darkening a color is to use its opposite, or
complementary, color (e.g. purplish-red added to yellowish-green) in order to neutralize it without a shift in
hue, and darken it if the additive color is darker than the parent color. When lightening a color this hue shift
can be corrected with the addition of a small amount of an adjacent color to bring the hue of the mixture
back in line with the parent color (e.g. adding a small amount of orange to a mixture of red and white will
correct the tendency of this mixture to shift slightly towards the blue end of the spectrum).

Split primary colors

In painting and other visual arts, two-dimensional color wheels or three-dimensional color solids are used as
tools to teach beginners the essential relationships between colors. The organization of colors in a particular
color model depends on the purpose of that model: some models show relationships based on human color
perception, whereas others are based on the color mixing properties of a particular medium such as a
computer display or set of paints.

This system is still popular among contemporary painters, as it is basically a simplified version of Newton's
geometrical rule that colors closer together on the hue circle will produce more vibrant mixtures. However,
with the range of contemporary paints available, many artists simply add more paints to their palette as
desired for a variety of practical reasons. For example, they may add a scarlet, purple and/or green paint to
expand the mixable gamut; and they include one or more dark colors (especially "earth" colors such as
yellow ochre or burnt sienna) simply because they are convenient to have premixed. Printers commonly
augment a CMYK palette with spot (trademark specific) ink colors.

Color harmony

It has been suggested that "Colors seen together to produce a pleasing affective response are said to be in
harmony".[11] However, color harmony is a complex notion because human responses to color are both
affective and cognitive, involving emotional response and judgment. Hence, our responses to color and the
notion of color harmony is open to the influence of a range of different factors. These factors include
individual differences (such as age, gender, personal preference, affective state, etc.) as well as cultural,
sub-cultural, and socially-based differences which gives rise to conditioning and learned responses about
color. In addition, context always has an influence on responses about color and the notion of color
harmony, and this concept is also influenced by temporal factors (such as changing trends) and perceptual
factors (such as simultaneous contrast) which may impinge on human response to color. The following
conceptual model illustrates this 21st-century approach to color harmony:

wherein color harmony is a function (f) of the interaction between color/s (Col 1, 2, 3, …, n) and the factors
that influence positive aesthetic response to color: individual differences (ID) such as age, gender,
personality and affective state; cultural experiences (CE), the prevailing context (CX) which includes setting
and ambient lighting; intervening perceptual effects (P) and the effects of time (T) in terms of prevailing
social trends.[12]

In addition, given that humans can perceive over 2.8 million

different colors,[13] it has been suggested that the number of
possible color combinations is virtually infinite thereby implying
that predictive color harmony formulae are fundamentally
unsound.[14] Despite this, many color theorists have devised
formulae, principles or guidelines for color combination with the
aim being to predict or specify positive aesthetic response or "color
harmony".

Color wheel models have often been used as a basis for color
combination principles or guidelines and for defining relationships
between colors. Some theorists and artists believe juxtapositions of
complementary color will produce strong contrast, a sense of visual
tension as well as "color harmony"; while others believe
juxtapositions of analogous colors will elicit a positive aesthetic Georg Christoph Lichtenberg.
response. Color combination guidelines (or formulas) suggest that Göttingen, 1775, plate III.
colors next to each other on the color wheel model (analogous
colors) tend to produce a single-hued or monochromatic color
experience and some theorists also refer to these as "simple harmonies".[15]
In addition, split complementary color schemes usually depict a modified complementary pair, with instead
of the "true" second color being chosen, a range of analogous hues around it are chosen, i.e. the split
complements of red are blue-green and yellow-green. A triadic color scheme adopts any three colors
approximately equidistant around a color wheel model. Feisner and Mahnke are among a number of
authors who provide color combination guidelines in greater detail.[16][17]

Color combination formulae and principles may provide some

guidance but have limited practical application. This is due to the
influence of contextual, perceptual, and temporal factors which will
influence how color/s are perceived in any given situation, setting,
or context. Such formulae and principles may be useful in fashion,
interior and graphic design, but much depends on the tastes,
lifestyle, and cultural norms of the viewer or consumer.

As early as the ancient Greek philosophers, many theorists have

devised color associations and linked particular connotative
meanings to specific colors.[18] However, connotative color
associations and color symbolism tends to be culture-bound and
may also vary across different contexts and circumstances. For
example, red has many different connotative and symbolic
meanings from exciting, arousing, sensual, romantic, and feminine;
to a symbol of good luck; and also acts as a signal of danger. Such
color associations tend to be learned and do not necessarily hold Ignaz Schiffermüller, Versuch eines
irrespective of individual and cultural differences or contextual, Farbensystems (Vienna, 1772), plate
temporal or perceptual factors.[19] It is important to note that while I.
color symbolism and color associations exist, their existence does
not provide evidential support for color psychology or claims that
color has therapeutic properties.[20]

Monochromatic

The monochromatic formula chooses only one color (or hue). Variations of the color are created by
changing the value and saturation of the color. Since only one hue is used, the color and its variations are
guaranteed to work.

Current status
Color theory has not developed an explicit explanation of how specific media affect color appearance:
colors have always been defined in the abstract, and whether the colors were inks or paints, oils or
watercolors, transparencies or reflecting prints, computer displays or movie theaters, was not considered
especially relevant.[21] Josef Albers investigated the effects of relative contrast and color saturation on the
illusion of transparency, but this is an exception to the rule.[22]

See also
Additive color
Charles Albert Keeley
Color Field
Color management
Color mixing
 Color psychology
Color scheme
Color wheel
Color charge
Complementary colors
HSV color space
On Vision and Colors
Paint sheen
Subtractive color
Tints and shades

References
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External links
Color Theory Tutorial by Worqx (http://www.worqx.com/color/)
Handprint.com : Color (http://handprint.com/HP/WCL/wcolor.html) – a comprehensive site
about color perception, color psychology, color theory, and color mixing
Color Differences (https://web.archive.org/web/20130510125645/http://www.byk.com/filead
min/BYK/downloads/support-downloads/instruments/theory/color/en/Intro_Solid_Color.pdf)
Color Theory in Landscape Design (http://landscaping.about.com/od/flowersherbsgroundco
ver1/a/flower_photos.htm)
The Dimensions of Colour (http://www.huevaluechroma.com/) – color theory for artists using
digital/ traditional media
Color Thesaurus (https://web.archive.org/web/20130701175235/http://www.hpl.hp.com/pers
onal/Nathan_Moroney/color-thesaurus.html) World's Largest Database of Color Names
Stanford University CS 178 interactive Flash demo (http://graphics.stanford.edu/courses/cs1
78/applets/locus.html) introducing trichromatic color theory.
App that generates harmonious color palettes from photos based on color theory (http://realc
olors.makan-studios.com)
Color theory as it relates to interior decorating (https://www.wikihow.com/Pick-a-Color-for-an-
Accent-Wall)
Applying Color Theory to Digital Media and Visualization (https://www.crcpress.com/Applyin
g-Color-Theory-to-Digital-Media-and-Visualization/Rhyne/p/book/9781498765497) – a book
from CRC Press

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