L2a Colorschemeswheel

color theory:
color schemes &

“traditional” color wheel
ART 251
The 3 Properties of Color
Hue
Value
Intensity
Properties of Color: Hue
Hue - The name of the color
• Example: Red, Yellow, Blue-
Green.
• There are not many hues but
there are many colors.
• The same hue or color can have
many different names.
The twelve-step color wheel of Johannes Itten.

Properties of Color: Hue Color
Wheel
The most common organization for the
relationship of the basic colors is
the color wheel. (It comes from the
early 18th century.)
3 Secondary Colors—Mixtures of the
primary colors.
– Orange
– Green
– Violet
6 Tertiary Colors—Mixtures of a
primary and a secondary color.
Munsell color wheel. Courtesy of Gretag Macbeth, New Windsor, New

York. The twelve-step color wheel of Johannes Itten.
Properties of Color: Value
Value - Lightness or Darkness of a hue
Tint - adding white to a hue
Shade - adding black to a hue
“ Most people can distinguish at least 40 tints and shades of any color.”
Inherent Color Values Differ

Not all the colors on the color wheel are shown at the same value
Value scales for blue, gray, and yellow with equal visual steps.
Properties of Color: Value
Changing Color Value
• When working with paint
you can thin a color by
adding medium.
• You can also alter the
value by mixing hues.
• Value, just like color, is
changed by its
surroundings.
The same color will appear to change in value, depending

upon the surrounding color.
Properties of Color: Intensity
Intensity—Brightness of a
color (also called chroma
or saturation.)
2 ways to lower intensity:
(or make a color duller)
• Mix with achromatic gray
• Mix with Complement
New York. Edgar Degas. After the Bath, Woman Drying Herself. c.1896. Oil on canvas,
2’ 11” x 3’ 9 2/3” (89 x 116 cm). Philadelphia Museum of Art
To Make Brighter use:
• Simultaneous contrast – when
2 compliments are next to each
other they increase the visual
brilliance of each other
• Afterimage effect – when you
stare at an intense color and
then look away you will see the
complementary color
Casanova Table and Side Chairs. Domus Design

Collection, New York.
Visual Color Mixing
Techniques that suggest light:
• Pigment just can’t reproduce the
luminous and brilliant quality of
light
• Its very hard to get a pure color
from mixing 2 colors
Visual Color Mixing Techniques:

Visual Mixing = Optical Mixing
• Attempt to create a color by placing
2 pure colors next to each other
rather then mixing them on a board.
• The viewer’s eye mixes them
together at a certain distance
Chuck Close. April. 1990-1991.Oil on canvas, 8’ 4” x 7’.

Courtesy Pace Wildenstein, New York.
Visual Mixing in Art and TV
Styles and Techniques that use Visual Mixing
• Post-Impressionists, Seurat and Van Gogh used Visual Mixing
• Pointillism – technique using small bits of color next to each
other to produce a color.
• TVs
• Mosaics
• Weavers
• Printing Presses
• We use this technique all the time. (Think Pixels!)
Color Schemes or Systems
A harmony or combination of
particular color based on the color
wheel. A color schemes.
Color Schemes
Monochromatic –The use

of just one hue in an
image. (You can use
black and white to add
variety though.)
Mark Tansey. Forward Retreat. 1986. Oil on canvas, 7’ 10” x 9

’ 8” (2.4 x 2.9 m). Collection of Eli Broad Family Foundation,
Santa Monica, California. Courtesy Gagosian Gallery, New
York.
Color Schemes
Warm Colors:
– Red
– Orange
– Yellow
• Warm colors advance
• Represents – Fire, Sunlight
• Implies – Happy energy
• An artist many use warm and cool
color relationships to create depth
and volume.
• It can also create a feeling of light.
Chicago History Museum. Childe Hassam. The Breakfast

Room, Winter Morning. 1911. Oil on canvas. © Worcester
Art Museum, Massachusetts/The Bridgeman Art Library.
Color Schemes
Cool Colors:
– Blue
– Green
– Purple
• Cool colors recedes
• Represents – Sky, Water, Grass,
Plants
• Implies – Sadness, Depression,
Night
Archibald J. Motley Jr. Getting’ Religion. 1948.

Oil on canvas, 2’ 7 7/8” x 3’ 3 1/4” . Collection
Archie Motley and Valerie Gerrard Browne,
Evanston, Illinois. Chicago History Museum.
Color Schemes
Complimentary Colors—Opposite on color
wheel
• Red-Green,
• Blue-Orange,
• Yellow-Purple
Tip:
• Placing 2 complimentary colors side by side
creates a brighter image.
• Mixing 2 complimentary colors creates gray
Color Schemes
Analogous—A picture that
uses several (often 3)
colors that are right next to
each other on the color
wheel.
Color Schemes
Split Complementary—
An even wider range of possibilities is
offered by the split complementary system.
Rather than pair colors of that are in opposite
positions on the color wheel, the artist
completes the scheme using the two colors on
either side of one of the complements.

Color Schemes
Double-Split Complementary—Rather than
pair colors of that are in opposite positions on
the color wheel, the artist completes the
scheme using the two colors on
either side of the two complements.
Color Schemes
Triadic color scheme
A triadic color scheme uses colors that are
evenly spaced around the color wheel.
Triadic color schemes tend to be quite
vibrant, even if you use pale or unsaturated
versions of your hues.
To use a triadic harmony successfully, the
colors should be carefully balanced - let one
color dominate and use the two others for
accent.
Color Schemes
Rectangle (tetradic) color scheme—
The rectangle or tetradic color scheme uses
four colors arranged into two complementary
pairs.
• This rich color scheme offers plenty of
possibilities for variation.
• Tetradic color schemes works best if

you let one color be dominant.
• You should also pay attention to the

balance between warm and cool colors
in your design.
Color Schemes
Square (tetradic) color scheme—
The rectangle or tetradic color scheme uses
four colors arranged into two complementary
pairs.
• This rich color scheme offers plenty of
possibilities for variation.
• Tetradic color schemes works best if

you let one color be dominant.
• You should also pay attention to the

balance between warm and cool colors
in your design.
Color Schemes
Chromatic Grays—
A chromatic gray is made from a
mixture of color, rather than a
simple blend of black and white.
The result is both subtle and vibrant.
•In The Magpie, the grays vary
widely.
•This is not a dark, sullen winter
day; through the use of chromatic
grays, Claude Monet makes the
warm
light an transparent shadows sparkle
in the crisp air.
Color Schemes
Earth Colors—
•Earth colors, including raw sienna
and burnt sienna, raw and burnt
umber and yellow ochre, are made
literally
from pigments found in the soil.
•Generally warm in temperature,
when used together they create a
type of
analogous harmony.
Andrew Wyeth, Sea Boots, 1976.

Planning Color Schemes
• The use of deliberate color
schemes is most common in
interiors, posters, and
packaging.
• But, knowing these harmonies
can help both painters and
designers consciously to plan
the visual effects they want a
finished piece to have.
Jan Vermeer. Girl with a Pearl Earring. c. 1665-1666.

Oil on canvas, 1’ 5 1/2” x 1’ 3 3/8” (44.5 x 39 cm).
Royal Cabinet of Paintings, Mauritshuis, The Hague.
Color Discord
Unexpected Combinations
• Color Discord – opposite of
color harmony.
• Can be disturbing.
• They do not balance each other.
• Mild discord can be exciting or
eye-catching.
Wolf Kahn. Color/Tree Symphony. 1994. Oil on canvas,

4’ 3 1/2” x 4’x 8 1/2” . Grace Borgenicht Gallery, New
York. Art © Estate of Wolf Kahn/Licensed by VAGA,
New York, New York.
Color Discord
Colors in Conflict
• Certain color parings are almost
difficult to look at
• Our eyes experience conflict
trying to look at them
• They look as though they are
vibrating
• Vibrating Colors – Colors that
create a flickering effect at their
border. This effect is usually
dependent on an equal value
relationship and strong hue
contrast
Annie Mae Young. Quilt. c. 1965. Cotton stiff material:

corduroy sheeting, polyester dress and pants material, wool.
Color Use
There are 3 basic ways to use color in painting.
1. Local Color (or Objective)- painting the
object the color that it is in normal
daylight.
2. Optical Color - Depicting an objects color
as it might be seen under various or
different light.
3. Subjective Color - Is the arbitrary use of
color, where the artist picks colors based
on design, aesthetics, or emotional
response.
(Heightened color is the use of color that is
intensified or exaggerated.)
Paul Gauguin. Allés et Venues, Martinique (Coming and

Going). 1887. Oil on canvas, 2’ 4 1/2” x 3’ 1/4” (72.5
x 92 cm). ｩ Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection on
loan to the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza (CTB.1979.88).

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color theory:

color schemes &

The twelve-step color wheel of Johannes Itten.

Munsell color wheel. Courtesy of Gretag Macbeth, New Windsor, New

Inherent Color Values Differ

The same color will appear to change in value, depending

Casanova Table and Side Chairs. Domus Design

Visual Color Mixing Techniques:

Chuck Close. April. 1990-1991.Oil on canvas, 8’ 4” x 7’.

Monochromatic –The use

Mark Tansey. Forward Retreat. 1986. Oil on canvas, 7’ 10” x 9

Chicago History Museum. Childe Hassam. The Breakfast

Archibald J. Motley Jr. Getting’ Religion. 1948.

either side of one of the complements.

• Tetradic color schemes works best if

• You should also pay attention to the

• Tetradic color schemes works best if

• You should also pay attention to the

Andrew Wyeth, Sea Boots, 1976.

Jan Vermeer. Girl with a Pearl Earring. c. 1665-1666.

Wolf Kahn. Color/Tree Symphony. 1994. Oil on canvas,

Annie Mae Young. Quilt. c. 1965. Cotton stiff material:

Paul Gauguin. Allés et Venues, Martinique (Coming and

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