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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Sprache: Englisch
Choose the right colors and color combinations for your projects Color theory is the art and science of using color. Color Theory For Dummies explains, in simple terms, how colors relate to one another and how they can be combined to work together in an aesthetically pleasing way. An understanding of color theory can help you create art, decorate your home, design a beautiful wedding, and impress your friends at parties. With this book, you'll learn how humans perceive color, how colors harmonize or clash with each other, and how you can apply these principles in your life and work to add a little, well, color to things. * Discover the history and science behind how we see colors * Understand how colors mix, match, and contrast so you can create better color combinations * Learn how certain colors have the ability to affect how we feel and think * Apply color theory to design, art, décor, photography, and beyond Color Theory For Dummies simplifies and illuminates the world of color theory, outlining and defining color in a digestible and applicable way.
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Color Theory For Dummies®
Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2022 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2022942341
ISBN 978-1-119-89227-4 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-89229-8 (epdf); ISBN 978-1-119-89228-1 (epub)
Color Theory For Dummies®
To view this book's Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and search for “Color Theory For Dummies Cheat Sheet” in the Search box.
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Introduction
About This Book
Foolish Assumptions
Icons Used in This Book
Beyond the Book
Where to Go from Here
Part 1: Opening Your Eyes to Color
Chapter 1: Your Color Journey
Color and the Power of Limits
Slowing Down to See Color
Where Color Begins
Why Is Color So Slippery?
A Colorist’s World
Ways of Working with Color
My Colorful Part of Tens
Chapter 2: History of Color
Early Humans and Color
Ancient Pigments and Dyes
Color in Sacred Art
Colorlessness in the Protestant World
Modern Color
Contemporary Color
Chapter 3: The Science of Color
Color in the Physical World
Biological Aspects of Color Perception
The Subjectivity of Color Perception
Chapter 4: The Language of Color
Talking about Color with the Right Words
Using Colorful Language
Outliers and Oddballs
Part 2: Examining Color Relationships
Chapter 5: The Relativity of Color
Seeing How Value Changes with Context
Seeing How Color Changes with Context
Chapter 6: Contrasts of Color
Distinguishing Opposites with Color
Contrast of Light and Dark
Contrast of Cool and Warm
Contrast of Complements
Contrast of Extension
Contrast of Saturation
Contrast of Hue
Chapter 7: Color Dynamics
Feeling a Color's Weight
Watching Color Advance or Recede
Seeing Red and Blue: Chromostereopsis
Experiencing the Fluting Effect
Sensing Color’s Wetness or Dryness
Opacity: Hitting the Color Wall
Transparency: Seeing Through Color
Translucency: Obscuring with Color
Part 3: Coloring Your World
Chapter 8: Color Palettes
Building a Palette
Working with Nature’s Colors
Forgetting Everything You Just Learned: the Intuitive Approach
Chapter 9: Using Color to Convey Meaning
Color and Consumer Culture
Influencing Your Taste Buds with Color
Affecting Emotions and Mood with Color
Getting Personal with Color
Part 4: Color at Work
Chapter 10: Systems of Color
Understanding the Types of Color Systems
Standardization Color Systems
Application Color Systems
Checking Out Digital Color Systems
Chapter 11: Creating with Color
Painting with Professional Artist’s Paints
Painting with Other Kinds of Paints
Interior Painting
Drawing with Color
Dyeing
Collaging with Color
Working with Color Digitally
Part 5: The Part of Tens
Chapter 12: Ten Colorful Careers
Marcie Bronkar, Textile Designer
Paul Bronkar, Film Colorist
Richard A. Chance, Illustrator
Jamie Drake, Interior Designer
Leatrice Eiseman, Color Specialist
Aura Friedman, Hair Colorist
Jay Jones, Garden Designer
Keisha Prioleau-Martin, Painter
Fanny Singer, Food Aficionado
Gabriele Wilson, Graphic Designer
Chapter 13: Tens Ways to Kickstart Your Color Creativity
Exercise #1: Building Your Color Vocabulary
Exercise #2: Mixing Cellophane
Exercise #3: Exploring Nature’s Colors
Exercise #4: Planting a Colorful Garden
Exercise #5: Expanding Monochromes
Exercise #6: Concocting a Food Palette
Exercise #7: Crafting a Color Blot
Exercise# 8: Creating a Personal Palette
Exercise #9: Adding Color to Your Home
Exercise #10: Making a Mood Board
Index
About the Author
Advertisement Page
Connect with Dummies
End User License Agreement
List of Illustrations
Chapter 1
FIGURE 1-1: Sergey Prokudin-Gorskiĭ, Fortress in Staraya Ladoga, Russia, 1909, ...
Chapter 2
FIGURE 2-1: A bison from the cave of Altamira.
FIGURE 2-2:
Court of Emperor Justinian,
mosaic, Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna...
FIGURE 2-3: A chunk of lapis lazuli.
FIGURE 2-4: A 19th-century reproduction of polychroming on Greek architecture (...
FIGURE 2-5: Calligrapher: Shaikh Hamdullah ibn Mustafa Dede (Turkish, Amasya ca...
FIGURE 2-6: Qur'an manuscript, Turkey, A.D. 1851–52, ink, opaque watercolor, an...
FIGURE 2-7:
Medicine Buddha,
Tibet, 15th century, ground mineral pigment on cot...
FIGURE 2-8: A stained glass window in Notre Dame, Paris.
FIGURE 2-9: Interior of St Stephen Walbrook, London.
FIGURE 2-10: House of Worth, afternoon dress, ca. 1872, silk, mother of pearl, ...
FIGURE 2-11: MaDora Frey,
Venus’ Looking Glass
, 2020, granite, dichroic f...
FIGURE 2-12: Zahar Vaks,
Wrestling Red Tide,
2019, oil, iron gall ink, cellulos...
FIGURE 2-13: Kira Nam Greene,
Kyung’s Gift in Pojagi,
2019, oil, gauche, ...
Chapter 3
FIGURE 3-1: White light passing through a prism, resulting in chromatic dispers...
FIGURE 3-2: The visible spectrum within the electromagnetic spectrum.
FIGURE 3-3: Lights of different color temperatures.
FIGURE 3-4: A molecule of beta carotene.
FIGURE 3-5: Subtractive color.
FIGURE 3-6: RYB color model (left) and CMY color model (right).
FIGURE 3-7: RGB color model.
FIGURE 3-8: The human eye.
FIGURE 3-9: The occipital lobe of the human brain.
FIGURE 3-10: The color illusion of “the dress.”
FIGURE 3-11: Normal vision (left), protanomaly and deuteranomaly (middle) and t...
FIGURE 3-12: Ishihara test.
Chapter 4
FIGURE 4-1: The fluting effect.
FIGURE 4-2: A 16-step value wheel.
FIGURE 4-3: Kast (cupboard), American (probably New York, New York) 1690–1720, ...
FIGURE 4-4: Ansel Adams,
Long’s Peak, Rocky Mountain National Park,
1941–...
FIGURE 4-5: A 12-part color wheel.
FIGURE 4-6: Piet Mondrian,
Composition with Red, Yellow, and Blue,
1927, oil on...
FIGURE 4-7: Secondary colors.
FIGURE 4-8: Tertiary colors.
FIGURE 4-9: Gradations of tints.
FIGURE 4-10: An arrangement of tints.
FIGURE 4-11: A gradation of tones.
FIGURE 4-12: An arrangement of tones.
FIGURE 4-13: A gradation of shades.
FIGURE 4-14: An arrangement of shades.
FIGURE 4-15: A sample of puce.
FIGURE 4-16: Misty Meadow, Wintergreen Dream, August Sunshine: A walk through t...
FIGURE 4-17: Three metallics: copper, gold, and silver.
Chapter 5
FIGURE 5-1: A 10-step value scale.
FIGURE 5-2: A completed worksheet for exercise #1.
FIGURE 5-3: Flushing effect.
FIGURE 5-4: Simultaneous contrast.
FIGURE 5-5: A chart showing light intensity of hues.
FIGURE 5-6: Two examples of color pairings with similar light intensities.
FIGURE 5-7: Sol Lewitt,
Wall Drawing #1084,
2003, acrylic on wall.
FIGURE 5-8: A chart of colors with flickering edges (top), and a chart with lig...
FIGURE 5-9: Optical color mixture with red, yellow, and blue.
FIGURE 5-10: Failure of optical color mixing, due to the width of the stripes.
FIGURE 5-11: Optical color mixing with colors that mix readily.
FIGURE 5-12: Optical color mixing with colors that resist mixture.
FIGURE 5-13: Optical color mixing with flickering.
FIGURE 5-14: After image using red.
FIGURE 5-15: After image using yellow.
FIGURE 5-16: After Image using blue.
Chapter 6
FIGURE 6-1: Examples of contrasts in composition.
FIGURE 6-2: Colors with strong light and dark contrast.
FIGURE 6-3: Colors with low light and dark contrast.
FIGURE 6-4: A gradation of greens, from light to dark.
FIGURE 6-5: A random arrangement of light and dark greens.
FIGURE 6-6: Matthew F Fisher,
The Blythe Giant
, 2018, acrylic on canvas, 12 x 1...
FIGURE 6-7: A split color wheel with cool (left) and warm (right).
FIGURE 6-8: A gradation of warm to cool.
FIGURE 6-9: Vincent Van Gogh,
Terrace of a Café at Night,
1888, oil on can...
FIGURE 6-10: Warm and cool greens.
FIGURE 6-11: A yellow-based green appears cooler in the context of yellows and ...
FIGURE 6-12: Red-purple appears warmer in the context of blue-purples.
FIGURE 6-13: Complementary color pairs.
FIGURE 6-14: Mixing red and green to make dark gray.
FIGURE 6-15: Soft complementary colors.
FIGURE 6-16: Hard complementary colors.
FIGURE 6-17: Dark complementary colors.
FIGURE 6-18: Marc Chagall,
I and the Village
, 1911, oil on canvas, 75⅝ x 59⅝”, ...
FIGURE 6-19: Contrast of extension.
FIGURE 6-20: Claude Monet,
The Red Kerchief,
c. 1868–1873, oil on fabric; frame...
FIGURE 6-21: Hues becoming increasingly desaturated.
FIGURE 6-22: An illustration of atmospheric perspective.
FIGURE 6-23: John Henry Twachtman,
Arques-la-Bataille,
1885
,
oil on canvas, 60 ...
FIGURE 6-24: Corydon Cowansage
Waves 1
, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 84 x 70ʺ.
Chapter 7
FIGURE 7-1: Two colors of different weights.
FIGURE 7-2: Heaviest colors at the bottom (left) and at the top (right).
FIGURE 7-3: Katsushika Hokusai,
Shower Below the Summit,
between 1826–1833 (pri...
FIGURE 7-4: Odilon Redon,
Vase of Flowers,
1916, Pastel; 33⅛ x 22ʺ.
FIGURE 7-5: Kazimir Malevich
, Suprematism,
1915, oil on canvas, the State Russi...
FIGURE 7-6: Cubiculum (bedroom) from the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscor...
FIGURE 7-7: Advancing and receding colors.
FIGURE 7-8: Chromostereopsis in action.
FIGURE 7-9: Jean Hey
, Margaret of Austria,
c. 1490, oil on oak panel, 12⅞ x 9⅛ʺ...
FIGURE 7-10: A butterfly with eye spots.
FIGURE 7-11: Fluting effect with value.
FIGURE 7-12: Fluting effect with color.
FIGURE 7-13: Fluting effect (left), and columns with fluting (right).
FIGURE 7-14: Dry biome (left) and wet biome (right) and their colors.
FIGURE 7-15: A fountain in Chefchouen, Morocco.
FIGURE 7-16: An opaque color over a landscape.
FIGURE 7-17: A landscape overlaid with transparent color.
FIGURE 7-18: Overlaid colors at 50 percent transparency.
FIGURE 7-19 Overlaid colors at 15 percent transparency.
FIGURE 7-20: Overlaid colors at 85 percent transparency.
FIGURE 7-21: Strips of transparent blue over yellow.
FIGURE 7-22: White and black transparent overlays.
FIGURE 7-23: Translucency obscuring a flower.
Chapter 8
FIGURE 8-1: A true monochrome with green.
FIGURE 8-2: An expanded monochrome with greens.
FIGURE 8-3: An expanded monochrome with tones of green.
FIGURE 8-4: Expanded monochrome with yellow.
FIGURE 8-5: Anna Atkins, Laminaria digitata, from
Photographs of British algae:
...
FIGURE 8-6: Eric Hibit,
Blue Oyster
, 2018, acrylic on panel, 20 x 16ʺ.
FIGURE 8-7: Three analogous colors on a color wheel: yellow-orange, yellow, and...
FIGURE 8-8: Analogous sets.
FIGURE 8-9: An expanded analogous palette.
FIGURE 8-10: An expanded primary palette (top strip) and an expanded primary pa...
FIGURE 8-11: Flowers with a primary palette.
FIGURE 8-12: An expanded secondary palette.
FIGURE 8-13: A split complementary set on a wheel.
FIGURE 8-14: Split complementary sets.
FIGURE 8-15: Neutrals with browns, tans, grays, and black.
FIGURE 8-16: Earth tone neutrals.
FIGURE 8-17: Neutrals juxtaposed with saturated colors.
FIGURE 8-18: An ornamental cabbage with color gradations.
FIGURE 8-19: A calla lily with color gradations.
FIGURE 8-20: Flower and leaf color combinations.
FIGURE 8-21: Autumn colors with an analogous palette.
FIGURE 8-22: An expanded autumn palette.
FIGURE 8-23: A maple tree in autumn.
FIGURE 8-24: Pieces of a hypothetical quilt.
Chapter 9
FIGURE 9-1: The Tudor rose (top) with the red rose of Lancaster (bottom left) a...
FIGURE 9-2: Jacob van Hulsdonck,
Still Life with Meat, Fish, Vegetables, and Fr
...
FIGURE 9-3: Three food palettes based on cheeses, vegetables, and cakes.
FIGURE 9-4: Kemar Keanu Wynter,
ZZ01 (Eggs and Salted Tomatoes on Grilled Toast
...
FIGURE 9-5: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner,
The Visit — Couple and Newcomer,
1922,...
FIGURE 9-6: A photograph of Whitby Abby, England.
FIGURE 9-7: Tiffany Smith,
Jamaican Apple,
2014, archival inkjet print, 16 x 20...
FIGURE 9-8: Fans at a University of Alabama football game.
Chapter 10
FIGURE 10-1: The Munsell color tree.
FIGURE 10-2: Cross-sections of Munsell’s color tree from
The Color Atlas.
FIGURE 10-3: Color-picker in Adobe PS.
FIGURE 10-4: Student work with Color-aid.
FIGURE 10-5: Mary Gartside’s blue color blot.
FIGURE 10-6: Mary Gartside’s crimson color blot.
FIGURE 10-7: My color combination from Sanzo Wada’s dictionary.
FIGURE 10-8: Kandinsky’s eccentric yellow and concentric blue.
FIGURE 10-9: Additive color mixing.
FIGURE 10-10: An image with RGB color separations.
FIGURE 10-11: Subtractive color mixing.
FIGURE 10-12: An image with CMYK color separations.
Chapter 11
FIGURE 11-1:
Hans Holbein the Younger,
Hermann von Wedigh III, 1532, oil and go...
FIGURE 11-2: An acrylic glaze.
FIGURE 11-3: White glazes with different degrees of translucency.
FIGURE 11-4: Watercolor.
FIGURE 11-5: Painted color wheels
.
FIGURE 11-6: Street art in Bushwick, Brooklyn.
FIGURE 11-7: Color wheel made with red, yellow, and blue color pencils.
FIGURE 11-8: Color pencil over graphite pencil.
FIGURE 11-9: A drawing with acrylic markers.
FIGURE 11-10: Edgar Degas,
Woman Combing Her Hair,
ca. 1888–1890, pastel on lig...
FIGURE 11-11: Imaginary landscape with pastels.
FIGURE 11-12: Nichole van Beek,
Solar Power,
bio-based ink on paper, 11 x 14ʺ.
FIGURE 11-13: Painted paper, ready to cut for collage.
FIGURE 11-14: Torn edges in collage
.
FIGURE 11-15: Kelvin color temperature scale.
FIGURE 11-16: A photo with warm, neutral, and cool color temperature.
FIGURE 11-17: A grid of images showing various changes in Photoshop: brightness...
FIGURE 11-18: Finding tools for brightness, contrast, color balance, hue, and s...
FIGURE 11-19: Digital painting from scratch.
FIGURE 11-20: Digital painting over photographic image.
FIGURE 11-21: Opacity slider in Photoshop.
Chapter 12
FIGURE 12-1: A detail of one of Bronkar’s textiles, Lorraine Printed Linen.
FIGURE 12-2: Still frames from
Happy Birthday Charlie
(a film by Nina Martinek)...
FIGURE 12-3: Chance’s illustration of a dance club.
FIGURE 12-4: A Drake/Anderson interior.
FIGURE 12-5: The accompanying fan deck for Eiseman’s book
More Alive with Color
...
FIGURE 12-6: An underlying pigment chart for hair color.
FIGURE 12-7: A portrait of Jones in the garden.
FIGURE 12-8: Keisha Prioleau-Martin,
In a Starlit Humm,
2019, acrylic on canvas...
FIGURE 12-9: Singer’s basket of fresh farmer’s market vegetables.
FIGURE 12-10: Book cover by Gabriele Wilson,
The Commons.
Guide
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Table of Contents
Begin Reading
About the Author
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Introduction
I know that my life would not be the same without the experience of bright red, light yellow, dark blue, and deep brown — or any of the colors that I see and love. I also know that the experience of color is impossible to fully convey in words. Yet the elusiveness of color is just as compelling as its ubiquity. And who knows if the colors I see match your perceptions? We may see color differently!
Congratulate yourself for your curiosity about the extraordinary (yet profoundly ordinary) topic of color. I’m pleased to present Color Theory For Dummies and share my knowledge of color with you.
About This Book
Whether color is a pleasure — or a pain — depends on individual taste. Some people adore color. Others avoid it completely. And preferences change over the course of people’s lives. You may have picked up this book with the hopes of receiving guidance about color. Or you may feel that you know plenty already. Either way, the fundamental point of this book is to empower you, dear reader, as you navigate the vast world of color.
Empowerment happens though education. The more you learn, the more confidence you gain in working with color. But before you start learning, make sure that you aren’t carrying preconceived notions about color.
Western culture is hyper-focused on the stale, romantic notion of natural talent, like little Mozart who wrote operas as a child. It's said that someone has an eye for color or no sense for color. These limiting binaries leave no room for genuine creativity, with all its wonderful struggles and subjectivities, or for the truth of how creativity develops: slowly and over time, propelled by curiosity, inspiration, joy, and angst. Creativity is a roller coaster ride of trial and error that never really ends. And creative work itself has no quantifiable or definite system of evaluation. So, I encourage you to free yourself from any limiting ideas about your color sense. Open your eyes anew to the world of color, and be open to your way of seeing and working with it.
No matter what kind of work you are doing or want to do with color, give yourself a big color hug — a message of love and support for your work with color.
And lastly, a few words about the color in this book. As you may have noticed, this book is filled with colorful studies to aid in your understanding of color concepts. Although every effort has been made to maintain consistency in printing, some colors will inevitably vary. The lighting under which you view the studies will also change their appearance; this is true for both print and e-book editions. In Chapter 5 (and other parts of the book), you’ll read about the relativity of color and how it changes in context. I hope this brief disclaimer will offset any confusion about how a given color appears to your eyes as you read.
Why Dummies?
As a teacher, I’m committed to accessible learning. That’s why I’m thrilled to write a Dummies book. The Dummies brand is known for making learning accessible to a wide range of readers with different interests, backgrounds, and goals. And I’m particularly excited to write a Dummies book about color because color is my passion! I studied color as an art student, and I teach color. I have also read the works of plenty of color theorists, some of whom exude an air of esotericism in their writing. In the public imagination, mystique surrounds color (especially in painting and in artist’s biographies; for example, Van Gogh’s manic fixation with yellow). This esotericism and mystique hold people’s attention, but also hold people at a distance. I intend this book to be an access point for all kinds of people to learn about color and not feel like dummies in the process.
Knowing the four c’s of color
What does it mean to “know about color”? The four c’s of color define crucial points that make up color knowledge:
Compassion:
Understanding that color preference is personal, subjective, and unique; honoring your own ways of working with color; and celebrating the color choices that others make
Comprehension:
Knowing the scientific origin of color rooted in physics and biology; seeing how colors are composed and how they mix; understanding the vast range of colors and how to navigate this vastness to locate colors for your projects
Confidence:
Believing that you can make constructive decisions about color in your chosen medium or application; diminishing the belief that you — or anyone — is not good with color
Creativity:
Using color in original and authentic ways that reflect your vision and expresses your sensibility
Even if you think you already know about color, I guarantee that information in this book will enrich your work with color.
Foolish Assumptions
In this book, I assume two things. One, I assume that you know very little about color. Therefore, information is broken down to its most fundamental level and elaborated on from there. If you know more about color than I think you do, that’s great! This book will still help.
Two, I assume that you are suspicious of color. Would you trust a banker who wore a suit made of bright colors like red, yellow, purple, and green? Color doesn't always have positive associations in Western culture. The Joker is the perfect example of a colorful villain. Suspicion of color goes back centuries, as far back as the German tale of The Pied Piper of Hamelin. (Pied means multicolored and has nothing to do with pies, as was my assumption!) The mayor of Hamelin hired the Pied Piper to play his flute to lure the rats away from the town. The piper accomplished what he was hired to do, but the mayor refused to pay him. In revenge, the piper lured away all the town's children, who were never seen again. (The folktale is thought to be a metaphor for a plague or a famine that devastated the community.) It’s noteworthy that the piper is characterized by his colorful, pied attire. Archetypes like the clown, the buffoon, and the queer all appear as colorful characters throughout Western culture. The hegemony of Protestant culture in Europe and America is fundamentally color suspicious. Plenty of assumptions about color are lurking in culture. Look for them and give them a second — and third and fourth — thought!
Icons Used in This Book
This book contains icons that point of the type of information you’re reading.
Read these suggestions for specific things you can do to learn more about color.
Retain these main points and ideas.
Skip this information if you're looking only for a quick reference.
Make sure to read this crucial information.
Beyond the Book
For even more to learn about color, check out this book's cheat sheet, which shows you helpful links to web pages containing information about color. To get to the cheat sheet, go to www.dummies.com and type Color Theory for Dummies Cheat Sheet in the Search box. You'll see not only the cheat sheet but any significant updates or changes that occur between editions of this book.
Where to Go from Here
In the 1990s in Japan, the term shinrin-yoku (“forest bathing”) emerged. Like bathing in water, forest bathing is about immersion and renewal. The practice includes walking in nature and simply being present with the sights, sounds, and smells you encounter, soaking in the healing waters of the forest itself. Researchers have identified health benefits from forest bathing, such as reduced stress hormones and relaxing effects.
Why not try some color bathing? You don’t need a forest, because color is already all around you. Simply walk through the world — your home, yard, neighborhood, or local park — with your eyes attuned to color. Be mindful of the colors you see and let them soak into your psyche. When I’m annoyed about being stuck in traffic, color bathing brings me back to the moment and allows me to appreciate the colors around me.
You can color bathe also by using some colorful materials. Purchase a pack of Color-aid paper (see Chapter 10 for details on Color-aid; origami paper is a great affordable alternative). Spread it out on a large table and observe the array. Surround yourself with your preferred colors, and tape some to the walls, where you can view them regularly. In this way, you can immerse yourself in color and become more familiar with it. As an artist, I have a personal relationship with certain colors; they're like family members that I return to again and again. Bathing in color might be a good way for you to begin to build your color relationships.
Lastly, I suggest hanging a color wheel in your space. You can print a color wheel from an online image, purchase one, or make your own. Having a color wheel nearby will set the mood for your color study.
Part 1
Opening Your Eyes to Color
IN THIS PART …
Get an overview of this book.
Discover the history of color from cave painting to contemporary.
Explore the science behind color perception in physics and biology.
Learn color terminology such as tint, tone, shade, and hue.
Chapter 1
Your Color Journey
IN THIS CHAPTER
Considering the history, science, and language of color
Understanding color's relativity, contrast, and dynamism
Working with palettes and conveying meaning
Exploring systems of color and different mediums
Discovering ten colorful careers and ten ways to work with color
This chapter is a colorful roadmap that briefly describes the main ideas you find throughout the book. My hope is to provide a foundation for your journey into color — and to whet your appetite! I also want to build in some redundancy; if you’re like me, reading a thing twice never hurts.
Color is vast. The human eye perceives a seemingly infinite number of colors. Some colors are strikingly different while others are different in extraordinarily subtle ways. The world of color is an ocean of different perceptions, with incalculable possible combinations and juxtapositions. To work with color is to confront the vastness of color.
For a glimpse into the vastness of color that's all around you, try this: First, look at the back of your hand, observing its different colors. Some areas might be darker and others might be lighter (but the differences might be subtle). Second, look at the objects in the room you’re in. Observe the dark colors, light colors, bright colors, and dull colors. Now imagine all the people in the world observing the colors on their hands and in their rooms in the same way. Compile these theoretical color observations in your mind. This is your glimpse into the vastness of color, observed in a hypothetical moment!
Color and the Power of Limits
In this book, I help you navigate the vastness of color by using a concept known as the power of limits, which is the sense of increased freedom (and control) within a decreased set of options — akin to the scientific concept of experimenting with constants and variables. The narrower your choices within (or your view of) a set of colors, the more you can do and see. Throughout the book, colors are presented in categories that narrow the color range, enabling you to make specific observations and progress without too many variables. When you focus on a narrow set of color choices, possibilities open up.
No matter your creative medium — painting, drawing, collage, graphic design, interior design, cooking, quilting, teaching, photography, or textiles — the power of limits helps you hone and strengthen your color skills.
Slowing Down to See Color
Many people are occupied by the digital devices that hold their attention so closely. Images move faster than ever, and colors are bright and backlit. The immersive quality of video games and VR is enthralling. But when observing color, our eyes need more time to adjust, especially when the difference between the two colors is subtle.
I suggest that you take a breath (or two) when looking at the color studies in the book. The extra seconds will help you perceive what is happening colorwise in whatever you’re observing.
Where Color Begins
In Part 1, “Opening Your Eyes to Color,” you learn about the history of color as well as the science behind color perception (the physics of color and the biology of the eye). You also learn about the link between language and color.
Appreciating the history of color
Humankind’s work with color goes back to prehistoric times, where cave-dwellers decorated their walls with paintings of animals and abstract patterns. Throughout history, humans have used the natural world as a source for color. For example, ancient Phoenicians used liquid squeezed from tiny snails as a source for purple.
Beginning in the 18th century, developments in science and industry resulted in the manufacture of color that was brighter, more vivid, and less expensive. These days, color is cheap, quickly produced, and widely available. Chapter 2 covers more details about the history of color — and its use by contemporary artists.
Talking about color
Language defines how we perceive, ponder, and communicate about color. There are several ways to describe colors. One method uses basic color terms (such as red, yellow, beige). Adding an adjective provides specificity (light blue or grayish-green). This is a straightforward — albeit general and imprecise — way to describe color.
Another method uses fancy color terms, which are largely associative (such as mauve, café latte, cordovan). Fancy color terms are memorable and can be fun to use, adding zest to the language. But they can also have a high-falutin' air about them, causing some people to doubt their color capabilities (for example, if they don’t know what chartreuse is). Don’t be fooled! The use of fancy color terms doesn't necessarily indicate expertise with color, and ignorance of fancy color terms doesn't indicate an inability to work with color.
The gap between the perception of color — and how it is described with language — must be acknowledged. The word maroon, for example, conjures different colors for different people. Language never defines color; it simply points to it! Check out Chapter 4 for more information about color and language.
Why Is Color So Slippery?
Have you ever painted a room, only to observe that the color looked different once it was on the wall? Or have you purchased an article of clothing thinking it was one color in the store, only to experience it as a slightly different color at home? Painters often grapple with color’s slipperiness when a color on the palette looks different on the canvas. Why? In Part 2, “Examining Color Relationships,” you learn how color changes in context and about different types of color contrasts.
Seeing color in context
Chapter 5 is all about how color changes in context. Color’s changing nature is also known as the relativity of color (which is the basis for color theorist Josef Albers’s famous color theory book Interaction of Color). For example, a brown swatch takes on a greenish tinge against a large area of red but takes on a reddish tinge against a large area of green. Thus, the brown appears to be two different colors. Chapter 5 includes worksheets with color swatches that you can cut out and paste, so you can test color relativity for yourself!
Getting to know color contrasts
Chapter 6 is about contrasts of color and is based on the theories of 20th-century Swiss artist Johannes Itten. He identified contrasts such as light and dark; complementary contrast (colors opposite on the color wheel: red and green, blue and orange, purple and yellow); and warm and cool. Color contrasts can be used to create different effects. For example, warm colors evoke fire and the sun, while cool colors evoke water and ice.
Dealing with dynamic color
Do certain colors weigh more than others? Do some colors advance, while others recede? Can colors convey conditions such as wetness and dryness? The answer to all is yes!
In terms of weight, dark colors and saturated colors tend to weigh more, appearing heavier to the eye. Light colors tend to weigh less, appearing lighter and airier. A phenomenon called chromostereopsis is the reason why reds tend to advance and blues tend to recede. Sometimes, light and warm colors tend to advance, while dark and cool colors tend to recede. Warm earth tones tend to evoke dryness, while cool water tones tend to evoke wetness. More details about these dynamics are in Chapter 7.
Together, the relativity of color, color contrasts, and color dynamics show how slippery color is. Color changes according to context, it is affected by contrasting colors, and color dynamics such as chromostereopsis play on our understanding of where color is in terms of distance. So if you see color change before your eyes, don’t be surprised. And don’t think you’re doing anything wrong. Better to embrace color’s changing nature and celebrate its slipperiness!
A Colorist’s World
The two chapters in Part 3 give you tools and information for working with color. Taken literally, a palette is a surface on which painters mix paint. Figuratively, a palette is a set of colors that any kind of creative practitioner might work with. Chapter 8 introduces palettes you can use whether you're planting a garden, sewing a quilt, or making a digital collage. Chapter 9 is about color and meaning, and covers color in consumer culture as well as color in visual art and personal expression.
A limited palette is a powerful palette
A key idea in Chapter 8 is the power of limits, which helps focus your work with color. The palettes I describe — monochrome palettes, analogous palettes, primary color and secondary color palettes, split complementary palettes, neutral palettes, and palettes based on nature — limit your options with color, which conversely opens up possibilities.
I also talk about the intuitive approach, which basically means working with color by the seat of your pants, in the moment, with no conscious strategy or approach. I believe that most artists — and other creatives — work this way, and you probably will too as you develop your creative projects. The deeper your knowledge of color, the more effective your intuitive work with color will become.
Meaningful color
As you discover in Chapter 9, color is rich with meaning in the world of consumer culture. Logos, brand identities, product packaging, and advertising all use color to communicate about goods and services. For example, Bank of America’s red represents dynamism and strength, and Citibank’s blue represents trustworthiness and reliability. The color of a brand contributes to the product’s recognizability.
Moving beyond the conventional — almost cliché — color meanings in consumer culture, you consider the meaningfulness of color in art, which can be refreshingly subjective, personal, and nuanced. In the hands of poets, musicians, and visual artists, color takes on new, personal, and even private meanings that can reveal a profound depth of feeling.
Ways of Working with Color
In Part 4 you look at color systems that can help your work with color. You also look at different art mediums and the color possibilities for each.
Getting systematic with color
Chapter 10 addresses color systems, which are used to organize color in ways that make it easier to work with. Some systems standardize color, so that exact colors can be identified among different people at different times and locations. You learn about two standardization systems: Pantone, which is probably the most widely used color system today, and the Munsell system.
Other color systems present users with ways to apply color. These application systems include the color dictionary of Japanese colorist Sanzo Wada, which presents the reader with different combinations of colors that can be used in textiles and objects, and the system of color blots by British watercolorist Mary Gartside that are used in representational flower painting.
Digital color systems are also covered in Chapter 10
