Special Subjects: Basic Color Theory

An introduction to color for beginning artists

Patti Mollica

• Publisher: Walter Foster Publishing
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781633225909
• eBook ISBN: 9781633225916
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Art Techniques

Understanding how to effectively use color is the first step to becoming a well-rounded artist. Special Subjects: Basic Color theory is your guide.

A perfect resource for new artists and art hobbyists, Basic Color Theory demonstrates the color wheel at work and covers all the essentials, including complementary, primary, secondary, and tertiary colors; hue, saturation, and value; color mood, temperature, and schemes; and how to create a color chart.

Each concept is clearly explained in easy-to-comprehend language so beginning artists can put their newfound knowledge to immediate use. Also included are step-by-step tutorials, as well as techniques for basic color mixing in different mediums.
 
Designed for beginners, the How to Draw & Paint series offers an easy-to-follow guide that introduces artists to basic tools and materials and includes simple step-by-step lessons for a variety of projects suitable for the aspiring artist. Basic Color Theory allows artists to widen the scope of their abilities, demonstrating how to create color and value charts, basic color mixing techniques, and a comprehensive approach to understanding color relationships.

WHAT IS COLOR?

Artists must understand color to know how to use it properly. Although there will always be some personal influence in the way we interpret and display it, we must understand color relationships before we can organize it in our paintings.

In the late 1600s, Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1727) conducted and published a series of experiments involving prisms, light, and color, which form the basis of our current understanding of color. These experiments involved refracting white light through a prism—a simple triangular glass object that separates light waves into individual colors. The results revealed that light could actually be broken down into seven individual colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Until this discovery, it was assumed that a prism somehow “colored” the light passing through it. To prove this wrong, Newton reversed the process: He projected the colors back into the prism, which resulted in pure white light. Artists and scientists alike were amazed by this breakthrough discovery that light is the source of all color.

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As white light hits a prism, the light refracts and separates into the colors of the rainbow.

Scientist Sir Isaac Newton provided the foundation for color theory as we understand it today.

UNDERSTANDING LIGHT

The colors that we see when light strikes an object are the result of certain wavelengths (individual colors) being absorbed by the object while other wavelengths are being reflected back to us. Those reflected back to us are the colors that we see.

LIGHT & REFLECTED COLOR

As light hits a yellow object, yellow is reflected; all other colors are absorbed.

As light hits an orange object, yellow, orange, and red are reflected; all other colors are absorbed.

As light hits a purple object, red, blue, and violet are reflected; all other colors are absorbed.

THE COLOR WHEEL

A color wheel is a visual representation of colors arranged according to their chromatic relationship. The basic color wheel consists of 12 colors that can be broken down into three different groups: primary, secondary, and tertiary.

One of the easiest things to create is a 12-color color wheel with just the three primaries: red, yellow, and blue. All colors are derived from these three. Beginners should mix a color wheel with both the primaries and secondaries. This can help you understand how to create additional colors, see how colors interact, and se...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• What Is Color?