Color Study Guide PDF

1. Color Theory: The art and science of color interaction and effects. 2. Color & Light: When light hits an object, some of the light is absorbed and some is reflected which makes colors. 3. Visible Spectrum: The range of wavelengths of light that the human eye can see. (EX: Red, Orange...

1. Color Theory: The art and science of color interaction and effects. 2. Color & Light: When light hits an object, some of the light is absorbed and some is reflected which makes colors. 3. Visible Spectrum: The range of wavelengths of light that the human eye can see. (EX: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, & Violet) 4. Color Absorption: Occurs when an object absorbs certain colors of light, preventing them from being reflected or passed through the object. (EX: Black absorbs all & White reflects all) 5. Color Physics (Additive & Subtractive): Additive color mixing occurs when light colors are combined, creating new colors (EX: Red + Green = Yellow). Subtractive color mixing involves pigments where colors are created and is a darker/duller color. 6. Additive Color: A method of creating colors by mixing red, green, and blue 7. Color Interaction: The way colors influence one another. (Types: Simultaneous Contrast, Bezold Effect, Opponent Theory, Afterimage) 8. Simultaneous Contrast: When two colors are placed next to each other, causing them to appear more different than they actually are. For example, a gray square may look darker against a white background but appear lighter against a black background. 9. Bezold Effect: Colors may appear different depending on its relation to adjacent colors. An optical illusion that describes how a color\'s appearance changes based on the colors around it 10. Opponent Theory: The cones in our can only register one color in a complementary pair at a time, the constant shift between the color creates a visual glow 11. Afterimage: The cones in our eyes get fatigued looking at high intensity colors, the will eventually revert to the opposite colors. 12. Three Properties of Color: Hue, Value, & Intensity. Hue refers to the distinct characteristic of a color that allows it to be classified as red, blue, green, etc. Value is the lightness or darkness of a color. Intensity is the strength or purity of a color, indicating how vivid or muted it appears in a given context. 13. Color Temperature: A scale that measures how 'warm' (yellow) or \'cool\' (blue) the light from a particular source is. 14. Primary Colors: The base colors that cannot be created by mixing other colors. (Red, Yellow & Blue.) 15. Secondary Colors: Color combinations created by the equal mixture of two primary colors. (Green, Orange, & Violet) 16. Tertiary Colors: Colors created by mixing a primary and secondary color together. (Blue-green, blue-violet, red-orange, red-violet, yellow-orange, and yellow-green) 17. Value: The Relative lightness and darkness of a color. This is achieved by adding white and black to the color. \[Adding white = tints & Adding black = shades.\] 18. Intensity: This refers to the purity of a color. The primary colors exhibit the highest intensities. Primaries out of the paint tube are the highest intensity you can get. It can be manipulated by the addition of black or white. 19. Monochromatic: One color + white and/or black. Harmony composed of the same hue w/different variations of value and intensity. 20. Complementary: Harmony based off of complementary color pairs. (Red-Green, Orange-Blue, & Yellow-Blue.) 21. Complementary Mixes: When mixed together; complementary hues neutralize each other. 22. Analogous: Harmony based off of combinations of colors adjacent to each other on the color wheel. 23. Triadic: Use of three colors that are equally spaced around the color wheel. 24. Chromatic Grays & Earth Colors: Chromatic Grays is made from a mixture