{"id":2746,"date":"2017-08-07T05:40:58","date_gmt":"2017-08-07T05:40:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/course.oeru.org\/art101\/?page_id=2746"},"modified":"2017-08-07T05:40:58","modified_gmt":"2017-08-07T05:40:58","slug":"color","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/course.oeru.org\/art101\/learning-pathways\/the-visual-language-artistic-elements\/color\/","title":{"rendered":"Color"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Understanding color<\/h2>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
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A triangular prism, dispersing light<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Color<\/b> is the most profound element in visual art because it can affect the outcome of a work in so many ways. Humans respond to color combinations differently, and artists study and use color in part to give desired direction to their work.\n<\/p>\n

Color is fundamental to many forms of art. Its relevance, use and function in a given work depend on the medium of that work. While some concepts dealing with color are broadly applicable across media, others are not.\n<\/p>\n

The full spectrum<\/b> of colors is contained in white light. <\/p>\n

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The visible light spectrum<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Humans perceive colors from the light reflected off objects. A red object, for example, looks red because it reflects the red part of the spectrum. It would be a different color under a different light. Color theory first appeared in the 17th century when English mathematician and scientist Sir Isaac Newton discovered that white light could be divided into a spectrum by passing it through a prism.<\/p>\n

The study of color in art and design often starts with color theory<\/i>. Color theory splits up colors into three categories: primary, secondary, and tertiary.\n<\/p>\n

The basic tool used is a color wheel, developed by Isaac Newton in 1666. Another model, the color tree, was created by Albert Munsell. It has a spectrum made up of sets of tints and shades on connected planes.\n<\/p>\n

There are a number of approaches to organizing colors into meaningful relationships. Most systems differ in structure only.
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Traditional Model<\/h2>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
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A color wheel<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Traditional color theory is a qualitative attempt to organize colors and their relationships. It is based on Newton’s color wheel, and continues to be the most common system used by artists. <\/p>\n

Traditional color theory uses the same principles as subtractive color mixing (see below) but prefers different primary colors.
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Primary<\/span><\/h4>\n

Colors red, blue, and yellow. You find them equidistant from each other on the color wheel. These are the “elemental” colors; not produced by mixing any other colors, and all other colors are derived from some combination of these three.\n<\/p>\n

Secondary<\/span><\/h4>\n

Colors orange (mix of red and yellow), green (mix of blue and yellow), and violet (mix of blue and red).\n<\/p>\n

Tertiary<\/span><\/h4>\n

Colors obtained by mixing one primary color and one secondary color. Depending on amount of color used, different hues can be obtained such as red-orange or yellow-green. Neutral colors (browns and grays) can be mixed using the three primary colors together.\n<\/p>\n

Black and White<\/span><\/h4>\n

Lie outside of these categories. They are used to lighten or darken a color. A lighter color (made by adding white to it) a tint, while a darker color (made by adding black) is a shade.\n<\/p>\n

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Color Mixing<\/h2>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
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A more quantifiable approach to color theory is to think about color as the result of light reflecting off a surface. Understood in this way, color can be represented as a ratio of amounts of primary color mixed together.\n<\/p>\n

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Additive color. The primaries are red, green and blue. White is the confluence of all the primary colors; black is the absence of color.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Additive color theory<\/b> is used when different colored lights are being projected on top of each other. Projected media produce color by projecting light onto a reflective surface. Where subtractive mixing creates the impression of color by selectively absorbing part of the spectrum, additive mixing produces color by selective projection of part of the spectrum. Common applications of additive color theory are theater lighting and television screens. RGB color is based on additive color theory. <\/p>\n