Color Theory Fundamentals

The retina's nerve cells that respond to light, coming in two types: rods and cones.

These photoreceptors are responsible for vision in low light and are color-blind.

These photoreceptors are responsible for color and tone perception in bright light.

The ability of our visual system to perceive colors accurately even under different lighting conditions.

The set of colors that can be created by mixing pigments, also known as subtractive color.

The dominant color in a mixture of light waves, also known as the color family or name, directly related to the color's wavelength.

How light or dark a color is, also called lightness or luminance, measured by how much light is reflected, and determined by how much black or white is added to a color.

The intensity, purity, or vividness of a color, related to how much of a color's hue is present, essentially how vibrant or dull the color is.

Describes how warm or cool a color is, often related to temperature, with warm colors like red and yellow being associated with fire or the sun, while cool colors like blue and green are associated with water or sky.

A combination of colors that work well together, creating pleasing visual effects, often based on specific rules or principles.

Mixing light sources to create colors, often used for digital devices like computers, televisions, and mobile phones, based on the principle that combining red, green, and blue light produces various colors.

Mixing pigments or inks to create colors, used for painting, printing, and dyes, where colors are created by subtracting light wavelengths.

The three main colors from which all other colors can be derived in the additive color mode, represented by the initials RGB.