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Color in Context

Author: Sophia

what's covered
In this lesson, you will analyze a few examples of color in context and apply the knowledge, principles, and elements that you've learned up until this point. Specifically, this lesson will cover:

Table of Contents

1. Monet

Below is Water Lilies by Monet.

Water Lilies

This painting uses the subtractive color process because the pigments are mixed to create a variety of colors.

In this particular piece, the assortment of colors is generally cool. Recall that on the color wheel, the warm side has the reds, oranges, and yellows, while the cool side has the greens, blues, and violets.

Therefore, we can say that this painting uses analogous colors because it uses colors that sit next to each other on the color wheel.

terms to know
Subtractive Color Process
The mixing of color with pigment; subtractive color is seen when light is absorbed or reflected by pigment.
Analogous Colors
Hues which sit next to each other on the color wheel; analogous colors on one side of the color wheel are considered warm, and on the other side, cool.


2. Van Gogh

Van Gogh

You can see that the image by Van Gogh above is a bit more striking than the previous image.

It has a heavy use of complementary colors, which are the colors that sit opposite each other on the color wheel. In this case, those colors are red and green.

Van Gogh uses these colors on the wall and ceiling, then mirrors them on the pool table and the base.

term to know
Complementary Colors
Two hues which sit directly opposite each other on the color wheel.


3. Advertising

Advertising

Above, you can see ads or posters for the movies King Kong and Avatar. In the King Kong poster, you'll again notice the use of complementary colors in the purple tower against yellow skies.

While this contrast doesn't seem like a big deal, painting that tower gray or black to resemble a real building or a shadow being cast would take away the harmony that exists between the colors now. Because this image is illustrated and printed, it also uses the subtractive color process.

The Avatar poster, on the other hand, is probably a combination of both color processes. The movie characters and worlds are designed with computers and 3D software, both of which use the additive color process. This means that light is used to combine or create different colors.

However, since the image is going to end up printed for movie posters, it will also involve the subtractive color process. Note that this poster again uses complementary colors in the blue faces against the orange sunset.

term to know
Additive Color Process
The mixing of color with light; additive color is seen when light is projected.


4. Website Design

In a previous lesson, you learned about hexadecimal color, which is an additive color system for colors on the web.

Below, you have an example of a website. If you were to look at the source code for the website, you'd find the hexadecimal color codes that correspond to certain colors on the page.

Hexadecimal Color

term to know
Hexadecimal Color
The color system used to describe web pages, defined by the base 16 notational system; combinations of the numerals from 0 through 9 and letters from A though F are assigned to each color in this system.


5. Photography and Video Games

Photography also uses the subtractive color process when photos are printed out; however, the image below is actually from a video game called "Gran Turismo 5." Many games today are incredibly realistic.

Achromatic

This image is achromatic because there is no discernible hue. We know that the additive color process was used because video games are developed with computers and typically played on televisions or monitors.

If you took this image into Photoshop and looked at a color chart of the colors used to create the image, you'd also notice the use of grayscale since there is a progression in value from white to black. On the other hand, if the colors were intense and pure, that would be considered saturation.

terms to know
Saturation
Another term for the intensity of a color; usually refers to the vividness or purity of a color.
Achromatic
Having no discernible hue.
Grayscale
A multi-step arrangement of swatches of achromatic grays; each step in a grayscale represents an even progression in value from white to black.
Value
Another term for lightness or darkness.


6. Logos

Here you have the Google logo.

Google

Immediately, you can spot a few things. In the subtractive color process, the three primary colors are blue, red, and yellow. This is if you're talking about pigments in painting, for example. You also have the primary colors for the additive color process, which are red, green, and blue.

If you use any of the Google services, like Google Chrome or Google Drive, you'll start to notice these colors in their logos. It's important that the logos be appealing, so although each color is clearly different, the colors are analogous.

You can see this in particular with the Google Drive logo. Yellow, green, and blue sit next to each other on the color wheel.

If you take a look at a smartphone, be it an iPhone or Android device, you might see something like this when you open up the applications drawer.

Smartphone

Focusing on the Google services icons, the colors might seem completely random, but they were chosen for a very good reason. First of all, they work in harmony; even when spread out in the app drawer, they are still part of this bigger analogous theme. Again, these colors sit next to each other on the color wheel.

In addition, they also help you identify certain services quickly. The shape of the "G" is associated with Google, whereas the green messaging app with the smiley face tells you that it will likely be used to text family or friends.

Likewise, we have the phone, Google Voice, and contacts icons. They are all colored in a similar blue because they are related services or related areas of interest.

Even if you jump into an application like Google Maps, color interaction plays a very important role because you have to be able to easily distinguish important roads or highways.

Maps

Again, here's a color scheme that's primarily analogous, using yellow, green, blue, and then the neutral colors.

term to know
Primary Colors
The triad of red, blue, and yellow on the subtractive color wheel, or red, green, and blue (RGB) on the additive color wheel.

summary
In this lesson, you learned to identify principles of color in the classic works of Monet and Van Gogh. You also saw the application of these color principles in advertising, website design, photography and video games, and the creation of logos.

Keep up the learning and have a great day!

Source: SOURCE: THIS WORK IS ADAPTED FROM SOPHIA AUTHOR MARIO E. HERNANDEZ

Terms to Know
Achromatic

Having no discernible hue.

Additive Color Process

The mixing of color with light; additive color is seen when light is projected.

Analogous Colors

Hues which sit next to each other on the color wheel; analogous colors on one side of the color wheel are considered warm, and on the other side, cool.

Complementary Colors

Two hues which sit directly opposite each other on the color wheel.

Grayscale

A multi-step arrangement of swatches of achromatic grays; each step in a grayscale represents an even progression in value from white to black.

Hexadecimal Color

The color system used to describe web pages, defined by the base 16 notational system; combinations of the numerals from 0 through 9 and letters from A though F are assigned to each color in this system.

Primary Colors

The triad of red, blue. and yellow on the subtractive color wheel. or red, green. and blue (RGB) on the additive color wheel.

Saturation

Another term for the intensity of a color; usually refers to the vividness or purity of a color.

Subtractive Color Process

The mixing of color with pigment; subtractive color is seen when light is absorbed or reflected by pigment.

Value

Another term for lightness or darkness.