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This lesson explores pigment-based colors as opposed to the color spectrum of white light. This is important to note as the primary colors for pigments are different than the primary colors of light, which can sometimes introduce a bit of confusion.
For pigments, the primary colors are blue, red, and yellow. These basic colors, along with white and black, can be combined to create an infinite number of colors by adjusting the type of color, as well as the amount of color.
Secondary colors are those colors that are created by combining equal amounts of the basic primary colors. Blue plus red creates purple. Blue plus yellow creates green. Red plus yellow creates orange. Purple, green, and orange are secondary colors because they can only be created by combining primary colors.
The color wheel is a useful reference tool that helps artists identify complementary colors, those colors that are of an opposite hue. If you look at the color wheel, every color’s complementary color is directly across from it.
Take a look at the below color wheel. Take note of the colors directly across from each color. These are complementary colors:
EXAMPLE
Yellow’s complementary color is purple, red’s complementary color is green, and blue’s complementary color is orange.The amount of black added to a color is called color value. If you started with the secondary colors of orange, green, and purple and added a dollop of black to each, you would see them darkening a bit. The amount of white added to a color is called color saturation, or intensity. When color saturation is used, colors are not only lightened a bit but seem to “pop” more.
IN CONTEXT
Below are examples of color value and color saturation.
First, color value. When a small amount of black is added to the colors here in the image, the colors darken. Here you can see the black has been added to the bottom row of colors.
Next, color saturation. When a small amount of white is added to the colors in the image, the colors lighten. Here you can see the white has been added to the top row of colors. Notice how colors are not only lightened a bit but seem to pop a bit more off the screen as their intensity has increased.
Hot colors refer to colors in which yellow and red are the most dominant. On the other hand, cool colors are colors in which blue is the dominant color.
IN CONTEXT
Take a look below at this painting of haystacks by Vincent van Gogh. Yellow is clearly the dominant color. Ask yourself the following questions as you observe the painting:
- How does this choice of color affect the feel of the painting?
- How would the feeling change if the dominant color was blue or green?
Now, compare the above painting to the painting below, which is an example of Pablo Picasso’s Blue Period paintings. These are excellent examples of how an artist uses color to evoke a particular mood. Ask yourself the following questions as you observe the painting:
- How does this choice of color affect the feel of the painting?
- How would the feeling change if it was in a different color, such as pink or hot pink?
Source: THIS TUTORIAL WAS AUTHORED BY IAN MCCONNELL FOR SOPHIA LEARNING. Please see our Terms of Use.