Colour theory

1. Colour
EVIP 3rd ESO

2. Colour is...
A quality we can find in
any object.
Something that helps us
understand what we are
looking at.
Colour gives us
additional information
about the object we are
looking at.

3. Colour as physic and visual
phenomena
There are 3 factors that
allow us to perceive
colours:
1.Sight
2.Light
3.Objects’ Chemical
properties

4. Colour Theory
Sir Isaac Newton was one of the first scientists to
investigate colour theory. Around 1671-72 he
discovered the origin of colour when he shone a beam
of light through an angular prism and split it into
the spectrum - the various colors of the rainbow.
SIR ISAAC NEWTON (1643-1727)
The refraction of light through a glass prism.
This simple experiment demonstrates that colour comes from light - in
fact, that color is light. Scientists investigate the properties of
color theory whereas artists explore its visual effects.

5. Colour Terms
Additive colours involve
the mixing of coloured
light.
The colours of a TV
screen are a good
example of this.
Additive primary colours
are red, green and blue.
Additive secondary
colours are magenta,
cyan and yellow.

6. Colour Terms
Subtractive colours involve
the mixing of coloured
paints, pigments, inks
and dyes.
The traditional subtractive
primary colours are:
magenta, cyan blue and
yellow.
Subtractive secondary
colours are: red, blue and
green.

7. The Spectrum
The spectrum is the colours of the rainbow
arranged in their natural order: Red - Orange Yellow - Green - Blue - Indigo - Violet.

8. Colour Qualities: hues
Hue is one of the main
properties of any colour.
It is the name of every
colour.
Usually, colours with the
same hue are
distinguished with
adjectives referring to
their brightness or
darkness: “light blue”,
“pastel blue”, “dark
blue”...

9. Colour Qualities: Hues
Hues have a circular order as illustrated in the color
wheel above. The color wheel is a useful device to help
us explain the relationships between Primary, Secondary
and Tertiary colors.

10. Primary Colours
Red, Yellow and Blue are primary colours. These are
the three basic colours that are used to mix all hues.

11. Secondary Colours
Orange, Green and Purple are secondary colours.
They are achieved by mixing two primary colours.
together.

12. Tertiary Colours
Tertiary coulors are more subtle hues which are achieved
by mixing a primary and a secondary colour that are
adjacent on the color wheel.

13. Analogous colours
Analogous colours are placed next to one another on the
color wheel. These colors are in harmony with one
another.

14. Opposite and complementary
colours
Opposite colours are diagonally opposite one another on the color
wheel. Opposite colours create the maximum contrast with one
another. You can work out the opposite colour to any primary
colour by taking the other two primaries and mixing them together.
The result will be its opposite or complementary color.

15. Colour tints and shades
A tint describes a colour that is mixed with
white.
A shade describes a colour that is mixed with
black.

16. Colour Qualities: Value
When we describe a colour as light or dark, we are
discussing its value or brightness.
This property of colour tells us how light or dark a
colour is based on how close it is to white.
Using values, we can find magenta colour as very light
magenta, light magenta, dark magenta or very dark
magenta.

17. Colour Qualities: Saturation
Colour saturation is used to describe the intensity of the
colour in an image.
It defines a range from pure colour (100%) to grey
(0%).
A pure colour is fully saturated. It means that its
mixture contains only a unique colour.
The purest colours are the subtractive primary colours
(yellow, magenta and cyan blue). Secondary colours
(green, red and blue) are less saturated because they
contain two colours in their mixture.

18. Colour temperature
•
•
•
Colours are often
associated with moods.
Certain colours look
cold, such as blue,
green or violet. They
are called Cool or Cold
Colours.
Other colours look
warm, like red, orange
and yellow. They are
called Warm Colours.

19. Colour Temperature
Warm and intense colours
appear to advance
towards the viewer.
Cold and dull colours
appear to reced.

20. Colour Harmony
It is the balanced
relationship between
two or more colours.
Colours which are
close in the colour
wheel create Colour
Harmony.
Claude Monet, Water lillies

21. Colour Contrast
It is the optical effect
produced by two
complementary or
opposite colours.
We can also create
contrast using light and
dark colours.
Van Gogh, Sunflowers

22. Itten’s Colour Wheel
Johannes Itten (1888-1967)
was a Swiss painter and
teacher who studied the
Colour Theory.
He drew a colour wheel
which included primary,
secondary and tertiary
colours, and also value
and brightness scales

23. Hickethier’s Colour Cube
Alfred Hickethier (19031967) was a German
painter who classified
colour hues using a
numeric system. It
allowed the identification
of any hue.
He also built a cube which
contained 96 hues.

24. Activities
1. Hickethier’s cube
We are going to build and colour a simple Hickethier’s
cube using a template.