The color wheel. Eighteenth century scientist Isaac Newton first used a circle to show the colors or hues, of the spectrum. The color wheel was developed from that circle.

Complementary colors are opposite in hue and are also opposite each other on the color wheel.

Most colors have a “temperature”.

Reds, oranges and yellows look warm and make

Us think of things like fire or the sun.

Blues, greens and violets look cooler,

And suggest grass, shade and water.

Triadic- Three colors that are each three colors apart from each other- Forms a triangle

Split Complementary- a variation of complementary- it takes the two colors that are next to the true complementary color

Analagous Color scheme- 3 or four colors next to each other

Mixing a color with its complement can produce a neutral gray or brown.

Value- is the lightness or darkness of a color. This value scale shows red (fourth block from left) plus its tints and shades.

Tints- are created by adding white

Shades- are created by adding black

Saturation (also called intensity) describes a color’s brightness or dullness.

This scale shows how mixing a color with different amounts of its complement dulls the color.

Experiment with your uses of color. Coffee doesn’t have to be brown, shadows don’t have to be gray. Surprising colors catch the viewer’s eye.

You can sketch with paints.

Plants seem to jump, wave and leap into the air around the quiet barn in this mixed media work. Where has the artist used line to emphasize that effect?

Experiment by drawing the same subject several times, using a different media each time. Combine several of these media in one composition.

What color scheme is this?

People associate colors with feelings.

For example, we talk of having the blues, or being green with envy. A self-portrait can be an opportunity to use color symbolically to express the kind of person you feel you are.

Two of these artworks are self-portraits.

What do you think these artists were saying about themselves?

Do you think the use of color enhances these portraits? Why or why not?

What color are the highlights and shadows in the model’s skin? Accurate use and blending of colors is essential in Photo-Realism.

How has the artist used the design principle of balance to evoke a particular mood?

How has the artist created a sense of movement?

Has the use of color helped her accomplish this?

What gives the work its unity?

Does the artist’s choice of color add to the sense of balance in this drawing?

How?

Although the pencils used to create this work were not color, the selection of a colored background greatly enhances the final outcome.

How has the artist used light to create drama and interest?

Where do you see the most detail? Can you tell what color of paper the artist worked on?

When artists mix pigments to create hues, they are working with subtractive color theory.

The colors we see are wavelengths reflected, not absorbed.

A combination of all colors of pigment produces black.

You can explore additive color theory (mixing light waves) by experimenting with colors on a computer.

The primary colors in additive light are red, green and blue (RGB) When these colors are combined it produces White

What time of day is shown here?

What colors are found in the shadows?

Where are the darkest values?

Compare these two illuminated manuscripts- What are the similarities?

What are the differences?

How has color enhanced them?