LIGHT AND COLOUR

UNIT-1
Transparent color
When referring to color, transparent color is a color that lacks
color or a color that's the same color as the background. For example, this
text "example text" is red text with a red background, dragging the mouse
and highlighting the red box shows the text. The text is transparent since it
is the same color as the background.

Transparent color

Watercolors
Watercolors are a type of paint that can be mixed with water to create
translucent layers of color on paper. You can also call a painting made this way a watercolor.
Anyone can paint with watercolors, from toddlers to professional artists.

Watercolors

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Opaque colors
The term opaque originated from the Latin, meaning 'dark' meaning 'not
transparent' and opaque substance does not let any light pass through at all. A paint that is
opaque will give a solid colour. Blacks and whites are always opaque and any colour mixed with
them will become more opaque.

Opaque colors

Poster color
an opaque watercolor paint with a gum- or glue-size binder sold usually in
jars. called also poster paint.

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Is poster color and watercolour same?
Watercolours are made of finely ground pigments, whereas Poster Colors
pigments are even larger. That's why Watercolours are more transparent compared to Poster
Colors, which are more opaque. The opacity grows with the pigments and their additives!

Which type of Colour is used for poster?

Poster paint is a type of brightly coloured paint which contains no oil and is used
for painting pictures.
Oil Pastel
An oil pastel is a painting and drawing medium formed into a stick which consists
of pigment mixed with a binder mixture of non-drying oil and wax.

Oil Pastel

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What is oil pastel called?
Oil pastel (also called wax oil crayon) is a painting and drawing medium with
characteristics similar to pastels and wax crayons. Unlike "soft" or "Japanese" pastel sticks,
which are made with a gum or methyl cellulose binder, oil pastels consist of pigment mixed with
a non-drying oil and wax binder.
What is meant by wax crayon?
Definitions of wax crayon. writing implement consisting of a colored stick of
composition wax used for writing and drawing. synonyms: crayon. type of: writing
implement. an implement that is used to write.

wax crayon
Transparency paper
Transparency paper is a type of paper which is designed for use with overhead
projectors. This paper is clear, so that things printed or written on the paper can be clearly seen
when light is passed through the paper to make a projection.

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Cellophane
Cellophane is a thin, transparent film, coming from cellulose (like paper), that is
commonly used to package food products, because of its characteristics of barrier to air, water
and protection from micro-organisms attacks.

Transparent Cellophane

Colour Cellophane

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UNIT-II
What Are The Properties of Color?
COLOR ATTRIBUTES
There are literally millions of colors. But fortunately, they can be divided into just
a few color families. Every color can be described in terms of having three main attributes: hue,
saturation and brightness.
What is hue in color?
Hue is identified as the color family or color name (such as red, green, purple).
Hue is directly linked to the color's wavelength.
What is saturation in color?
Saturation, also called "chroma," is a measure of the purity of a color or how
sharp or dull the color appears.
What is brightness in color?
Brightness, also called "luminance" or "value," is the shade (darkness) or tint
(lightness) of a color. Areas of an evenly colored object in direct light have higher brightness
than areas in shadow.
Hue
Hue represents the color being displayed, as found on a red-green-blue scale,
color wheel or grayscale. The intensity of the primary colors or gray displayed grows with
increased brightness, but the color itself does not change. Changing to different color values
makes no difference.
What is chroma value?
Chroma is also known as a saturation or intensity. It describes how brilliant or
subdued the color looks. For example, within the hue of yellow, a lemon has more chroma than a
banana. Value refers to a color's lightness or darkness as compared to white or black.

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Color, Hue, Tint, Tone, and Shade

Many people use terms like “hue” and “color” or “tint” and “shade”
interchangeably, but the terms have distinctly different meanings. Color is a very general term
used to describe every hue, tint, tone, or shade we can see. Hue refers to the dominant color
family.
Hue refers to the origin of the colors we can see. Primary and Secondary colors
(Yellow, Orange, Red, Violet, Blue, and Green) are considered hues; however, tertiary colors
(mixed colors where neither color is dominant) would also be considered hues.
Tint refers to any hue or mixture of pure colors to which white is added. Pastel
colors are generally tinted colors. Tinted color remains the same color, but it is paler than the
original. When mixing a tint, always begin with white paint and gradually mix in small amounts
of color until you’ve achieved the tint you want.
Tone is a hue or mixture of pure colors to which only pure gray is added (equal
amounts of black and white). Adding gray to a color will make the intensity much duller. Beware

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of mixing too much gray into a hue as it can become over-dulled and virtually impossible to
restore the brilliance.
Shade is a hue or mixture of pure colors to which only black is added. It contains
no white or gray. Shade darkens the color, but the hue remains the same. When mixing a shade,
begin with the color itself then add black one drop at a time.

What is grayscale in color?

A grayscale (or graylevel) image is simply one in which the only colors are
shades of gray. The reason for differentiating such images from any other sort of color image is
that less information needs to be provided for each pixel.

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Chromatic value Scale
Chromatic value is the measure of light or darkness in a color. Tint is created by
adding the achromatic color white. Shade comes from adding black. Chromatic value impacts
how you feel when you see a particular color. For example, chromatic value is often used to
represent the time of day.
Color value scale
The color value scale describes a color's lightness or darkness. Munsell visualized
the color value scale as a vertical axis with white being at the top and black at the bottom of the
value scale.

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 UNIT III
What is a primary color?
Primary colours are basic colours that can be mixed together to produce other
colours. They are usually considered to be red, yellow, blue, and sometimes green. It comes in
bright primary colours that kids will love.

Color Basics
A color wheel is an illustrative model of color hues around a circle. It shows the
relationships between the primary, secondary, and intermediate/ tertiary colors and helps
demonstrate color temperature. Digital teams communicate exact colors through the use of hex
codes.
Understanding the Color Wheel
Many color wheels are shown using 12 colors. Using this color wheel as an
example, it can be read as follows:

Primary colors?
Primary colours are basic colours that can be mixed together to produce other
colours. They are usually considered to be red, yellow, blue, and sometimes green. It comes in
bright primary colours that kids will love.
 Three Primary Colors (Ps): Red, Yellow, Blue

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Secondary Colors
These are color combinations created by the equal mixture of two primary
colors. On the color wheel, secondary colors are located between primary colors. According to
the traditional color wheel, red and yellow make orange, red and blue make purple, and blue and
yellow make green.
 Three Secondary Colors (S’): Orange, Green, Violet
What is a Tertiary Colors
Tertiary colours: The combination of primary and secondary colours is known
as tertiary or intermediate colours, due to their compound nature. Blue-green, blue-violet, red-
orange, red-violet, yellow-orange and yellow-green are colour combinations you can make from
colour mixing.

 Six Tertiary Colors (Ts): Red-Orange, Yellow-Orange, Yellow-Green, Blue-Green,

Blue-Violet, Red-Violet, which are formed by mixing a primary with a secondary
It’s important to note that some people add more intermediates, for 24 total named colors, and
some color wheels show interior points and circles, which represent color mixtures.
Color Temperature
The colors on the red side of the wheel are warm; the green side of the wheel has
the cooler colors. These color temperature designations are absolute. More subtle color
temperature relationships are relative, meaning that each color on the warm side of the wheel can
be known as cool, and colors on the cools side of the wheel can be known as warm depending on
the relationship to their neighboring color. Colors from the same hue, for instance red, can also
be warmer or cooler than one another.
Color temperatures affect us both psychologically and perceptually by helping us determine how
objects appear positioned.

Warm Colors Cool Colors

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  Warm colors include red, orange, and  Cool colors include green, blue, and
yellow, and variations of those three purple, and variations of those three
colors. colors.
 Red and yellow are both primary  Blue is the only primary color within
colors, with orange falling in the the cool spectrum.
middle.  Greens take on some of the attributes
 Warm colors appear closer to the of yellow, and purple takes on some
observer. of the attributes of red.
 They are often more subdued than
warm colors.
 Cool colors appear farther from the
observer.

Neutrals

Neutral colors include black, white, gray, tans, and browns. They’re commonly
combined with brighter accent colors but they can also be used on their own in designs. The
meanings and impressions of neutral colors depend more so upon the colors around them.
Color Models: CMYK vs. RGB
There are two models for colors. They have different purposes and different
attributes. They are as follows:

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  CMYK Color Models: Stands for cyan, magenta, and yellow. It applies to painting and
printing. The CMYK model is a subtractive model, meaning that colors are created
through absorbing wavelengths of visible light. The wavelengths of light that don’t get
absorbed are reflected, and that reflected light ends up being the color we see.
 RGB Color Models: RGB stands for red, green, and blue. It applies to computers,
televisions, and electronics. The RGB model is an additive model, meaning that colors
are created through light waves that are added together in particular combinations in
order to produce colors.

Quaternary Colors of Color Wheel:

When two tertiary colors are mixed together, the result is a Quaternary color. In
fact, quaternary are very neutral colors of green, purple, and orange, also called olive, prune, and
buff.

Pigment Theory
Pigments behave almost the opposite of light. With pigments a black surface
absorbs most of the light, making it look black. A white surface reflects most of the (white) light
making it look white. A coloured pigment, red for instance, absorbs most of the frequencies of
light that are not red, reflecting only the red light frequency. Because all colours other than the
pigment colours are absorbed, this is also called the subtractive colour theory. If most of the red

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light is reflected the red will be bright. If only a little is reflected along with some of the other
colours the red will be dull. A light colour results from lots of white light and only a little colour
reflected. A dark colour is the result of very little light and colour reflected.
The primary colours in the pigment theory have varied throughout the centuries
but now cyan, magenta and yellow are increasingly being used. These are the primary colours of
ink, along with black, that are used in the printing industry. This is a CMYK colour system
[Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and (K) black].

Light Theory
Light theory starts with black (the absence of light). When all of the frequencies
of visible light are radiated together the result is white (sun) light. The colour interaction is
diagramed using a colour wheel with red, green and blue as primary colours (Red, Green and
Blue). These are the three colours that the cones in the eye sense. This is an RGB colour system.
The primary colours mix to make secondary colours: red and green make yellow, red and blue
make magenta and green and blue make cyan. All three together add up to make white light.
That is why the theory is called additive.
A computer monitor or a coloured television is an example of light theory. The
same three primary colours are used and mixed by the eye to produce the range of colours you
see on the screen. This theory is also used for dramatic lighting effects on stage in a theatre.

What Are Chromatic and Achromatic Colors?

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 Chromatic colors are ones where there is only one particular wavelength that
predominates. These would be colors like blue and green. They are referred to as pure colors.
Achromatic colors have no dominant hue. They are the colors that contain all wavelengths in
equal amounts such as white, black, and gray. Achromatic colors are considered to be shaded or
tinted.
Achromatic colors are qualities like white, grey, black, and the luminous qualities
seen in stars and in lamps emitting “white” light. Although they are the least spectacular among
the color impressions, the achromatic colors are probably the most interesting ones from a
physiological point of view.

What is monochromatic color definition?

Monochrome colors are all the varieties of a single hue - the tints, shades, and
tones. A monochromatic color scheme will range between lighter and darker versions of the base
color or hue.

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What is polychromatic color?

The term polychromatic means having several colors. It is used to describe light
that exhibits more than one color, which also means that it contains radiation of more than one
wavelength. The study of polychromatic is particularly useful in the production of diffraction
gratings.

What are high and low contrast colors?

For example, colors that are directly opposite one another on the color wheel
have the highest contrast possible, while colors next to one another have a low contrast. For
example, red-orange and orange are colors that have low contrast; red and green are colors that
have high contrast.

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 UNIT – IV
What is the importance of knowing color harmonies?

Our visual experiences need to have a logical structure in order for us to

understand them. Color harmony provides that structure. Harmony itself is simply a pleasing
arrangement of different things. Thus, color harmony is easily defined as the combining of colors
in order to produce a pleasing effect.
Split-complementary

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 Split-complementary is a color scheme using one base color and two secondary
colors. Instead of using a complementary color, two colors placed symetrically around it on the
color wheel are used. The base color is main, while the secondary colors should be used only for
highlights and accents.
What Are Double Split Complementary Colors?

Double-split complementary colors are the four colors on either side of a pair
of complementary colors on the color wheel. Complementary colors are exactly opposite each
other on the color wheel.
Double-split complementary color schemes are commonly used in the fashion
industry. This complex scheme provides a lot of contrast in color while still blending
harmoniously. An example of a double-split complementary scheme is red, orange, green and
blue. This color scheme comes from the complementary pair red-orange and green-blue, which
are color wheel opposites. Orange and red are on either side of red-orange, and green and blue
are on either side of green-blue. A double-split complementary color scheme is a tetradic scheme
because it includes four colors.

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What is the meaning of analogous colors?
Analogous colors means the color grouping has similarities. These color
scheme types have close relationships to one another. Here are a few examples of analogous
color schemes: Yellow, yellow-green, green. Violet, red-violet, and red.

Analogous colors examples

Analogous colors means the color grouping has similarities. These color scheme
types have close relationships to one another.
Here are a few examples of analogous color schemes:
 Yellow, yellow-green, green
 Violet, red-violet, and red
 Red, red-orange, orange
 Blue, blue-violet, violet

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Defining Warm and Cool Colors
The concept of warm and cool colors has been written about for hundreds of
years. Most theories start with the classic six point color wheel (three primary colors and three
secondary colors). A dividing line splits the wheel into warm and cool. The line location varies
based upon the reasoning of the theorist. Regardless, the general idea is the warm colors are
Red, Orange and Yellow; and the cool colors are Green, Blue and Magenta.

The classic color wheel divided into Cool and Warm halves.
Compare “yellow” to “blue” and it’s easy to see yellow is warm and blue is cool.
Comparing “red” to “magenta” might be less obvious since they are next to each other. But if
you identify and compare the “color temperatures”, a bluish red (magenta) is cooler than a
yellowish red.

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 The reds are spit into a warm, yellowish red on top and a cool, bluish red
(magenta) on bottom.
Color temperature is also important during paint mixing. In order to make clean
mixtures use colors with similar color qualities. For example, mixing a yellowish red with
reddish yellow yields bright secondary oranges (Figure 4). In describing a color to someone, we
often refer to color “bias”. A red can have a yellow bias or it can have a blue bias.

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 UNIT – V
Receding Colors
When using the colors blue, violet and green to paint a surface, the surface
appears to be further away than it actually is. Colors which give this effect are called receding
colors. i.e. they recede away from you.
Receding colors tend to be cool such as blues, greens and violets.

Advancing Colors
When using the colors red, yellow and orange to paint a surface, the surface
appears to be closer than it actually is. Colors which give this effect are called advancing colors.
i.e. they advance towards you.
Advancing colors tend to warm colors such as reds, oranges and yellows. Dark
tones of other colors have the same effect.
What are the colors for simultaneous contrast?
Simultaneous contrast is most intense when the two colors are complementary
colors. Complementary colors are pairs of colors, diametrically opposite on a color circle: as
seen in Newton's color circle, red and green, and blue and yellow. Yellow complements blue;
mixed yellow and blue lights generate white light.
What does successive contrast mean in color?
In illusion: Colour illusions. A successive contrast occurs when, after one has
stared at a red surface, a green surface looks much brighter. As one enters a dark room from
bright sunshine, the room at first seems quite dark by contrast.
Color Rendering
The color rendering of a light source refers to its ability to reveal the colors of
various objects faithfully (i.e. to produce illuminant metamerism) in comparison with an ideal or
natural light source. Light sources with good color rendering are desirable in color-critical
applications such as neonatal care and art restoration. It is defined by the International
Commission on Illumination (CIE)
Color rendering Effect of an illuminant on the color appearance of objects by
conscious or subconscious comparison with their color appearance under a reference illuminant.

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What is Wash in paint.
A wash is a term for a visual arts technique resulting in a semi-transparent layer
of colour. A wash of diluted ink or watercolor paint applied in combination with drawing is
called pen and wash, wash drawing, or ink and wash.

What is broken color techniques?

This term refers to a technique where an artist will apply colors to a painting
in small strokes, but does not blend them, so that they blend optically rather than literally.
The effect of this technique a life and vibrancy, and a strong sensation of the sparkle of natural
light.

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What is impasto color?

In impasto painting, artists apply thick layers of paint to their canvases to

produce a heavy texture that makes brush strokes and knife strokes more visible. The
impasto technique is primarily used in oil paintings but can also be created in acrylic paintings
when artists use heavy body acrylic paint gels.

What is the superimposition effect

In graphics, superimposition is the placement of an image or video on top of an

already-existing image or video, usually to add to the overall image effect, but also
sometimes to conceal something (such as when a different face is superimposed over the
original face in a photograph).

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