Design Principles

Chapter 13: Color

Color Theory

• Every decision from clothes selection to home/work environment is a color choice.
• The study of color is complex.
• Everyone can profit from the knowing some basic color principles.

The Essentials

• Light is made of all colors (Sir Isaac Newton put white light through a prism = colors)
• Color is a property of light.
• Objects have no color of their own, they just reflect a particular wavelength from the color spectrum.

(For example a blue object absorbs all of the wavelengths, EXCEPT the blue ones, thus the blue ones are reflected back to our eyes.

• Black absorbs all the wave lengths of the color spectrum.
• White reflects all the wave lengths of the color spectrum.

Color Mixing

Additive System – Color is created from projected light. (Example: theater lighting, photography, interior design, etc.) (The primary colors mix to create white in an additive system.)

Subtractive System – Color is created from pigments, (Painting, drawing, etc…) The primary colors mix to create neutral gray or black.

Color Wheel – most common organization for color

Primary Colors – Subtractive Color:

• Red
• Blue
• Yellow

Color Characteristics

Light and Color Perception

• Color is a product of light.
• Light changes affect color
• Colors shift throughout the times of the day.

Color Constancy or Constancy Effect

While an object changes color with different conditions, we remain tied to thinking of it as one color. (grass = green)

Claude Monet. Poplars. 1891. Oil on canvas, 3’ 3 3/8” x 2’ 1 5/8” (100 x 65 cm). Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Color and its Surroundings

• Color changes with light, and it also changes with its surroundings.
• Rarely do we see color by itself, normally it is in conjunction with other colors
• These surrounding colors will change how we see. One color can appear to be 2 different colors.
• Josef Albers devoted his career to the study of color and color relationships.

The gray sample looks different against the two background colors.

The 3 Properties of Color

Hue

Value

Intensity/Complementary Colors

Properties of Color: Hue

First property of Color

Hue – Refers to the name of the color

• Example: Pink, scarlet, maroon and crimson are all a hue of Red.
• There are few hues but there are many colors.
• The same hue or color can have many different names. This is especially true in the world of commercial products. (Think color names of cars, shirts, etc.)

Color Wheel

The most common organization for the relationship of the basic colors is the color wheel. (Wheel system dates from the 18th century.)

3 Primary Colors

Red, Yellow and Blue

3 Secondary Colors - mixtures of the primary colors.

Orange, Green and Violet

6 Tertiary Colors - mixtures of a primary and a secondary color.

The twelve-step color wheel of Johannes Itten.

Properties of Color: Value

Value - Lightness or darkness of the hue

Tint - adding white to a hue = high value color

Shade - adding black to a hue = low value color

“Most people can distinguish at least 40 tints and shades of any color.”

“Normal” Color Values Differ

• “Not all the colors on the color wheel are shown at the same value.”
• Yellow = light value color Blue = darker value color

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.
• The more transparent a color is, the lighter it’s value placed over white.
• You can also alter the value by mixing hues together.
• Value, just like color, is changed by its surroundings.

Color Properties

Color Interaction

• Colors change with their context.
• Amounts and repetition are also critical factors.
• Here green looks different “woven” through black or white.

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Properties of Color: Intensity/Complementary Colors

Intensity = brightness of a color.

• At full intensity only when pure or unmixed.
• Also called chroma or saturation.

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2 ways to lower intensity:

(or make a color duller)

• Mix with Gray
• Mix with Complement

Complementary colors neutralize each other in mixture.

Intensity/Complementary Colors

To Make Brighter use:

• Simultaneous contrast – when 2 compliments are placed next to each other, they increase in visual brilliance, usually with a vibrating edge.

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A visual phenomenon:

• Afterimage effect – when you stare at an intense color for a minute or so and then look away, you will see the complementary color

Palettes

Mixing Light:

• Digital palettes such as those found in Photoshop are often used in the arts
• Colors can be mixed by numeric percentages or picked from an onscreen sample.

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Mixing Pigment:

• Modern pigment additions have greatly expanded artist’s choices
• Information on hue, value and intensity is easily available.

Photoshop Palette

Visual Color Mixing

Techniques that suggest light

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Visual Color Mixing Techniques:

Visual Mixing = Optical Mixing

• Pigment can not reproduce the luminous and brilliant quality of light
• We create a color by placing 2 pure colors next to each other rather then mixing them on a palette.
• At a certain distance the viewer’s eye mixes them together

Chuck Close. April. 1990-1991.Oil on canvas, 8’ 4” x 7’. Courtesy Pace Wildenstein, New York.

Visual Mixing in Other Art Forms

Styles and Techniques that use Visual Mixing

• Post-Impressionist Seurat and van Gogh used Visual Mixing
• Pointillism – technique using small bits of color next to each other to produce a color.
• Pixels on the computer
• TVs
• Mosaics
• Weavings
• Color Printing – 4 color dot system

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Black Watch Plaid for Band Regimental Tartan (#396). House of Tartan, Ltd., Perthshire, Scotland.

Cool/Warm Colors

Color as physical sensation:

Cool Colors –Blue, Green, Violet

• Cool colors recedes
• Represents – Sky, Water, Grass, Plants

Warm Colors – Red, Orange, Yellow

• Warm colors come forward
• Represent – Fire, sun and heat

Cool/Warm Colors

Color as Psychological Effect

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Warm colors will suggest a feeling of heat.

Cool colors might induce a chill.

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Example: Here the artist plays with both warm/cool in a room installation

James Turrell. Meeting. 1986.

Cool/Warm Colors

Light and Shadow

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Warm colors advance and cool colors recede. Depth can be created by increasing the use of cool.

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Example: Here the artist uses progressively cooler blues to show the receding landscape.

Neil Welliver. Thawed Ledge. 1988. Oil on canvas, 5' x 5' (152.4 x 152.4 cm).

Color as Emphasis

Color Dominance

• Areas of emphasis in a work of art create interest. Carefully planned by the artist, the use color by its very character commands top attention.

Color as Emphasis

• Color as attention grabber
• An unusual or strong color can be used to grab attention
• Dark or dull against bright and light can also direct an area of emphasis.

Andy Goldsworthy. Elm. Middleton Woods, Yorkshire. 1980. From Andy Goldsworthy: A Collaboration with Nature (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1990).

Color and Balance

Achieving balance within asymmetrical composition

• Asymmetry – based on concept of using different elements on either side of the center axis
• To create visual balance, the elements must have equal weight or attraction
• Color is often selected to do this.

Joan Miré. The Birth of the World. Montroig, summer 1925. Oil on canvas, 8’ 2 3/4” x 6’ 6 3/4” (250.8 x 200 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York (acquired through an anonymous fund, the Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Slifka and Armand G. Erpf funds, and by gift of the artist, 262.1972).

Color and Balance

Dynamics of Balance and Imbalance

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Example: Gerome’s painting uses a small amount of red to pull us to the left. What is happening in the drama that the artist has chosen to show us this?

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Jean Léone Gérome. The Duel after the Masquerade. 1857–1859. Oil on canvas, 1' 3 3/8" x 1' 10 3/6" (39.1 x 56.3 cm).

Color and Space

Color’s Spatial Properties

• Color creates depth
• Intense, warm colors come forward, cool colors go back.

Atmospheric Perspective

As things go back into the distance they fade to blue-gray.

Asher B. Durand. Kindred Spirits. 1849. Oil on canvas, 3’ 8” x 3’. Courtesy Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas.

Color and Space

Using color to Emphasize Flatness

• Color can also be used to flatten and compress space

David Hockney. Mulholland Drive: The Road to the Studio. 1980. Acrylic on canvas, 7' 2" x 20' 3" (218.44 x 617.22 cm). Los Angeles County Museum of Art (purchased with funds from the F. Patrick Burns Bequest).

Color Schemes

Color harmonies - a simple combination of particular colors based on the color wheel. Also known as color schemes.

EXAMPLES:

Monochromatic - The use of just one hue in an image. Value can be varied or used with black and white.

Analogous – Use of 2-3 colors that are right next to each other on the color wheel.

Mark Tansey. The Bricoleur's Daughter. 1987. Oil on canvas, 5' 8" × 5' 7". Collection Emily Fisher Landau,

New York..

Color Schemes - Choices

5 Basic Color Schemes

1. Monochromatic – uses only one hue plus shades and tints
2. Analogous – several hues that sit next to each other on a color wheel
3. Complementary – Colors opposite on the color wheel
4. Split Compliment – Uses the 2 colors on either side of the complement
5. Triadic – Uses 3 hues equally distant on the color wheel

Stuart Davis. Visa. 1951. Oil on canvas, 3' 4" x 4' 4". The Museum of Modern Art, New York (gift of Mrs. Gertrud A. Mellon, 9.1953).

Planning Color Schemes

• Interiors, posters, and packaging are the most common deliberate use of color schemes….other areas may be more intuitive.
• Knowing these harmonies can help all artists and designers consciously plan the visual effects they want a finished work to have.

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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 and Vibrating Colors

Unexpected Combinations

• Color Discord – the opposite of color harmony.
• Can be visually disturbing.
• They do not balance each other nor do they have affinity for each other.
• Mild discord can be exciting or stimulating.

Wolf Kahn. Color/Tree Symphony. 1994. Oil on canvas, 4’ 3 1/2” x 4’x 8 1/2”. Grace Borgenicht Gallery, New York

Color Discord and Vibrating Colors

Using Discord to add Interest

• Mild discord results in exciting, eye-catching combinations
• The fashion world exploits this concept so discordant is commonplace and acceptable
• Discordant color = visual surprise
• Rules about what “goes together” seem outdated and silly.
• We approach color more freely today, seeking unexpected and unusual color combinations

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Color Discord and Vibrating Colors

Colors in Conflict

• Certain color paring 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 dependant 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, 7’ 7” x 6’ 9”. Tinwood Media Atlanta.

Color Uses

Three basic ways in which to use color in painting and other areas of art.

1. Local Color (or Objective)- The color an object seems under ordinary daylight.
2. Optical Color - Depicting an objects color as it might be seen under various or different light.
3. Subjective Color - Is the arbitrary us of color. Here the artist picks colors based on design, aesthetics, or emotional response.

(Heightened color is the use of color that is intensified or exaggerated.)

Scene from Candide by Leonard Bernstein and Richard Wilbur. The Ohio State University Department of Theatre.

Emotional Color

Emotional Color – Creates a strong emotional response in the viewer

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Yellow, red and orange colors = Warm, happy and cheerful reactions

Blue and green colors = Cool, Melancholy and depressing reactions

• Value and intensity also influence us
• Subject matter plays a part

Pablo Picasso. Crouching Woman. 1902. Oil on canvas, 2’ 11” x 2’ 4” (90 x 71 cm). Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart.

Emotional Color

Themes and Context

• Artist often use a color to add emotional impact to already volatile or emotive work.
• Color is often selected by the artist specific to this experience.

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Leon Golub. Mercenaries IV. 1980. Acrylic on linen, 10’ x 19’ 2 1/2” (3 x 6 m). Private collection, courtesy of the artist

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Color Symbolism

• Conceptual Qualities of Color

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He is true-blue.

Caught him red-handed.

She told a white lie.

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Color Can represent a concept or idea like sin, greed, cowardice, etc. This is a mental or conceptual idea.

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Color Symbolism

Color meaning varies between countries and historical times.

• Mourning

US-black

India-white

Turkey-Violet

Ethiopia-Brown

Burma-Yellow

• Brides

US-White

Hindu India-Yellow

China-Red

• Royalty

European & Egyptians-purple

China-Yellow

Rome-Red

Color Symbolism

Symbolic Color Today

• Symbolic color is associated with political, religious and commercial messages
• Examples to think about: Green may mean environmental responsibility or black denote sophistication or a premium brand.

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• Example here: The sky over Switzerland has white light…..meant to evoke a divine illumination.

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Der Himmel über der Schweiz ist gross genug.