Color Theory in Art

Study Notes

Color theory is a scientific approach to understanding how to combine colors effectively in art.
The traditional color wheel, created by Sir Isaac Newton, consists of primary, secondary, and tertiary colors, helping artists understand color harmony.
Colors can be described by their hue, saturation, value, and temperature.
Hue is the color position on the wheel, and there are twelve main colors.
Saturation refers to intensity or chroma, and a desaturated color is greyed out and dull, while a saturated color is vibrant.
Value indicates how dark or light a color is, and shades, tones, and tints can be created by adding black, white, or gray.
Temperature refers to the warmth or coolness of a color, with warm colors having more yellow and cool colors having more blue.
Color harmonies, such as monochromatic, complementary, split complementary, triadic, and analogous, help create appealing and cohesive color combinations.
Monochromatic color harmony uses different shades, tones, or tints of a single base color.
Complementary color harmony uses colors opposite each other on the color wheel, creating strong contrast.
Split complementary color harmony uses colors adjacent to the complementary colors, maintaining high contrast while adding more variety.
Triadic color harmony uses three colors evenly spaced around the color wheel.
Tetradic color harmony uses four colors in a rectangle shape made up of two sets of complementary colors.
Analogous color harmony uses colors adjacent to each other on the color wheel.
Using a dominant color, a few colors, and color palettes for inspiration can help create balanced and cohesive art.
Overusing colors or choosing too many can result in an overwhelming and chaotic design.

Description

Explore the scientific approach to combining colors effectively in art, including the traditional color wheel, color descriptions (hue, saturation, value, and temperature), and color harmonies for creating appealing combinations. Learn how to use dominant colors, select color palettes, and avoid overwhelming designs.