Colour Theory

Colour Wheel

A circular representation of the

colours and their relationship to one
another.

Primary colours: red, yellow, and

blue.

Secondary colours: yellow-red

(orange), yellow-blue (green), and
red-blue (violet). Results when two
primary colours are mixed.

Tertiary colours: Also Intermediate

colours. Results when a primary
and a secondary colour are mixed.
 Warm and Cool Colours
This method can be used to mix paint in literally
any hue, value, and intensity, to match or blend
with any wall covering or fabric, or to achieve any
artistic result.

In a colour wheel, the colours related to red and

yellow are considered warm .

The colours
related to blue
are considered
cool colours.

The warmth or
coolness of a
colour is also
relative to the
amount of white
or black added. For example, very light yellow may be rendered cool
because it recedes from the viewer and gives feelings of
light and space.
Monochromatic colour schemes

Monochromatic colour schemes are based on

one colour.

In interiors, successful monochromatic

schemes often utilize light, medium, and dark
values, varieties of the colour in intensity and
dullness, and the addition of other hues such
as a complement to neutralize or to vary the
hue slightly.

Ample amounts of white or off-white, or small

amounts of black or the complement hue, can
be added to a monochromatic interior to
balance the colour distribution or relieve a
potentially overwhelming use of colour.
This monochromatic blue scheme gives a clean and precise look
to this sleek modern kitchen. This interior achieves handsome
value distribution. A variety of values from light to dark blues are
accented with creamy white and off-black accents. Design by Lori
Carroll & Associates
 Analogous Colour Schemes
Analogous harmonies or schemes are colours adjacent to
each other on the colour wheel.

Generally, three to six colours are used in analogous

harmonies, with one colour predominating, another
secondary in importance, and a third (up to the sixth) used
as accents.

Here, a key to success often lies in the variety of the

lightness, darkness, intensity or clarity, dullness, and
exactness of the hue and in the uneven use of the different
colours.

For example, in a scheme of orange, yellow-orange,

yellow, and yellow-green, perhaps a softened or
neutralized yellow would dominate, with yellow-orange
used in smaller proportions and more neutralized tones
and the orange and yellow-green as accent colours.
Analogous colours are adjacent on the colour
wheel. The warm colours in this intimate
restaurant setting are yellow-green on the
walls and adjacent colours, yellow and orange
are seen in lighting fixtures. A glimpse of a
red-orange framed graphic art piece is seen on
the right. Photo courtesy of Sea Gull Lighting
Products, LLC
Complementary Colours

Complementary colours are those opposite each other on

the colour wheel:

Direct complement colours are pairs exactly opposite red

and green; yellow and violet; blue and orange. Or they may be
intermediate colours such as blue-green and red-orange, for
example, that when lightened and/or dulled are a lovely
combination.

Split complements contain a base hue and the two colours

on each side of its direct complementyellow, red-violet, and
blue-violet, for example.
This direct-complement scheme is inspired by sun
and sea. The starfish and nautical stripe room is
inspired by the wall art. Pale periwinkle blue and
slightly neutralized orange, with white
backgrounds and furniture and carpet the colour of
sand combine to make a clean, fresh, and smart
colour scheme.
Photo Brian Vanden Brink
The Munsell theory is a precise, formula-based
system for notating specific colours. Munsell
formulated a colour wheel and then expanded it to
a three-dimensional globe with leaves or pages of
colour variations. The system is based on three
attributes that determine the exact colour identity:

Hue: Pure colour without the addition of black,

white, or grey.

Value: The lightness or darkness of the hue.

Chroma: The relative purity of a colour.

 Hue Identity

Examine a colour closely to determine its

character. For example, blue is considered one
of the most difficult colours to work with
because it is so easily swayed by other hues or
by white or black. A few of the common blue
identities include:

Navyblue with black added

Tealblue with green added
Baby bluea cool, light blue
Country bluea neutralized mid-tone blue
American bluea pure, deep blue
Royal bluea darker, slightly violet blue
Undertones

The colours that are added to a base hue are

called undertones.

The blue examples listed in the previous slide

illustrate undertones that change the identity of
blue.

Cool undertones render any colour cool, even if it

is warm.

Warm undertones can render a colour more warm.

Warm coloursyellow, orange, and redbecome
cooler when blues, greens, and violets are mixed
into them, and vice versa.

Colours that are neutralised or greyed will

harmonize as a group, browned colours will
harmonize with each other, and pure colours or
their tints and/or shades will harmonize.
This green (wasabi) has strong yellow undertones.
 Bold or High-Contrast Colours

Bold or high-contrast colours are

pure, bright, or intense colours of
any hue.

They are often seen in retail

design, where lively contrast
stimulates shoppers to impulse
buy through a sense of euphoria.

They are also used in places

that people visit briefly, fast-food
restaurants or gas stations,
where the colours encourage
people to hurry through their
purchases.

Top: Reebok Flash (New York, USA)

Fusing early 20th Century Vorticism with the vibrant spirit of the 1980s,
Formavision plays with both perspective and depth, tricking the eye by
extending three dimensional shapes into distorted graphic patterns.
Bottom: McDonalds, Marble Arch, London
Neutralised Colours

Neutralised colours have been mixed to

become less pure, or dulled in intensity.
They fall into four categories:

Shades

Tints

Tones

Pastels
Shades are achieved by mixing black with a hue, or black and then Shades
white. They are darker versions, also achieved by adding grey or
brown.
Tints are hues made less pure by adding white. Very pale tints are Tints
clear and cool, as white paint or pigment contains blue. Mid-tone
tints are clean and can be brighter.
 Tones

Tones are
neutralized with a
complement or
contrasting
colour(s).

Tones have
undertones that
can be identified
with careful
examination.
Pastels are lightened tones, or tints of tones made by adding
white.

They are dull or dirty and liveable as wall colours.

Pastels
They are rich but non-assertive.
Neutrals
Neutrals are the families of
whites and off-whites,
greys, and blacks and off-
blacks.

Browns and beiges are

also often considered
neutrals, even though they
are actually neutralised
coloured hues.

This room is filled with natural light

and light neutral colours, giving a
sense of peace and calm. Neutral
colours allow the emphasis to be
placed on form and shape and spatial
composition.
Value Distribution and Contrast
As defined under the Munsell theory, value is the relative
lightness or darkness of a hue or neutral, or the amount of white
and black added.

Value distribution is the utilization or placement of value for a

desired result.
High values are light hues (tints and pastels) High values
or light achromatics (about 7 to 10 on the
Munsell chart).

High values visually expand space; they are

a useful tool when walls, floors, or ceilings
need to seem farther away.

High values make juxtaposed colours seem

crisper and cleaner and can unify interiors
when used as backgrounds.
High-key
High-key interiors have
predominantly high values.

The effect of many tints is an airy,

somewhat carefree feeling.

Pastels produce a soothing and

calming interior.

High-key interiors may seem

romantic or ethereal and less
connected to the earth, an effect
that can relieve stress but also
may cause feelings of insecurity.

All white and light colours create a

high-key interior, producing the
effect of a large, clean, and
 Midtones

Midtones are colours at their normal value

or natural saturation point and with
achromatic values from about 4 to 6
according to Munsell.

They are also mid-value neutralized tones.

Midtones give a sense of normality and

calm.

They evoke less reaction and are safe,

stable, and easy to live with; yet without
relief of light and dark values, mid-tones
can become boring.

The addition of accents of high/low values

and bits of bright chroma and shine creates
a Shibui effecta pleasantly long-lived
scheme.
A loft by Poteet Architects, a mix of contemporary design and mid
century-modern interiors. Rich and warm with a luxurious but
comfortable atmosphere, this space is well laid out with wonderfully
high ceilings. A good example of a neutral background with mid-tone
accents.
Dark or low values

Dark or low values are shades and darker tones from about 1 to 3 according to Munsell. Dark or
low values seem to advance and close in space; they are useful when walls, floors, or ceilings
need to seem closer for warmth or visual effect.
Low-key interiors focus on dark or low values. Low-key
They can produce a stable, anchored,
ponderous, or historic effect; an intellectual or
research/reading mode; or even a cave like
cosiness or comfort or theatrical setting.

Dark walls, furnishings, and bathtub yield a low-key interior,

where feelings of cosiness, safety, and privacy are
experienced.
High contrast High contrast means that light and dark values are
used to give a sharp or bold contrast, precision,
drama, or excitement and a clean contemporary
scheme.

High contrast values also look professional and

no-nonsense.
Value distribution based on nature

Value distribution based on nature is the

placing of values in the general pattern
seen in nature:

Darker colours are underfoot, creating a

sense of security and harmony with gravity.

Midtones are in the middleon walls and

around windows, on upholstery, and on
linensgiving stability and normality.

Lighter values are abovein the window

and near/on the ceilingfor a sense of
expanse and visual or mental freedom.
Colour Psychology
In symbolism, the purity of a colour corresponds to its symbolic purity: The primary colours to primary
emotions, and secondary and mixed colours to symbolic complexity."
Verity, Colour Observed

It is important to note that among colour experts

there are no hard-and-fast rules about colour
meanings, and while experts generally agree on
broad meanings, there are many disagreements
about the credibility of specific meanings.

One of the complicating factors is that nearly every

colour has both positive and negative
connotations, an ambiguity that does not fit well
with scientific inquiry.

Lets have a look at some current opinions on the

meaning and symbolism of the six colours that have
names in most world cultures: red, white, black,
green, yellow and blue.
Of all the colours, the greatest agreement Red
occurs on the symbolic meaning of red.

Researchers tell us that red is associated

with virility, stimulation, danger, and desire.

Red is the colour of blood, fire, passion,

and aggression, the colour that is the most
violent and exhilarating.

It is the colour of war: Roman soldiers

carried red battle flags, and many nations
have clothed their soldiers in red tunics. In
ancient Greece, actors wore red to symbolize
the disastrous war in Homers Iliad.

Red is associated with the Devil, who is often

depicted with bright red skin or wearing red
clothes.

A red flag represents a warning, and red

tape - bureaucratic hindrance.
On the other hand, red is the colour of the
Christian church's Passion ceremony of the
death of Jesus, and Christian priests often wear
red chasubles to symbolize the shed blood of
martyred saints.

To the Russian people of the early twentieth

century, the red flag of Soviet Russia signified
revolution and freedom from the tyranny of the
czars, but, as power-driven Russian leaders
corrupted the ideals of the revolution,
communism became the Red Menace to the
Western world.

On a softer note, brides in China wear red, and

in many cultures red is used as a burial colour.

In America, red means love, action,

dynamism, and power (think of Valentine's
Day, red-blooded Americans, and the American
flag in which the red stripes have come to
symbolize hardiness and valour).
Jan Vermeer (1632-75), Girl with the Red Hat, 1665-
66, oil on panel, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, Image.

Imagine how the effect of this painting would change if

the hat were light blue or pale green.
White In Western cultures, for
example, white symbolizes
innocence and purity (think
of a bride's gown or a baby's
baptism dress), but in many
other culturesChinese,
Japanese, and many African
nationswhite represents
the colour of death.

The Chinese wear white

clothing to funerals to
honour the purity of the
departed soul, but a white
mask in Chinese drama
signifies a frightful person.

A curious echo of the latter

meaning is our own
representation of ghosts as
white.
The white whale in
Herman Melville's Moby-
Dick is perhaps the most
sinister evocation of white
in American literature,
and a white feather in
British folklore signifies
cowardice.

On the other hand, a

white flag of truce signals
an honourable intent to
surrender peaceably.

In the ancient symbolic

meaning of colours in
dreams, white meant
happiness in the home,
which brings to mind all
of those detergent
commercials that shout
the importance of white.
John Singer Sargent (1856-1925), The Fountain, Villa
Torlonia, Frascati, Italy, 1907, oil on canvas, Art Institute
of Chicago, Friends of American Art Collection.

In this painting, Sargent's use of white conveys a sense of

luxury and leisure.
When told that the public wanted coloured automobiles, Henry Ford, the company's Black
founder, responded, They can have any colour they want, as long as it's black.

In the Western world, black

connotes death, mourning,
and evil, and a liberal use of
black has negative overtones
as the colour of ill omen, hell,
and damnation.

In old western films, the black

hat and white hat were the
symbolic headgear for the bad
guys and the good guys.

For the ancient Egyptians,

however, black (the colour of
the Nile Delta soil) meant life,
growth, and well-being.
In our own time, the African-American
Black is beautiful campaign urges
a return to this more positive
orientation toward black.

Black has always been associated

with night (the absence of light), and,
for this reason, is also associated with
unknowing, mystery, and intrigue.

Perhaps that association explains the

preference for basic black as a
sophisticated fashion statement in
clothing and the fear of black cats
crossing ones path.

In the Western world, black became

the colour of the clergy and, at the
same time, the colour worn by
widows and graduating college
students.
Ad Reinhardt (1913-67),
Painting, 1954-58, oil on
canvas.

From 1950 until his death in

1967, Reinhardt purged his
paintings of colour, eventually
arriving at his black
paintings, the solemn,
reductivist canvases for which
he is perhaps best known."
Virginia M. Mecklenburg,
1989
Green
Colour experts generally agree that
green is the colour of balance and
harmony and symbolizes spring and
youth, hope and joy.

In the Muslim world, green signifies the

Prophet Muhammad and therefore
represents the entire religion. As Islam's
sacred colour, however, green is
reserved as a special sign of respect and
veneration.

In England, the colour Lincoln Green

has a heroic connotation because of its
connection with the folk figure Robin
Hood.

In the Western world, the Go sign is

green, and Think green has become
the byword for ecological preservation.
Oddly, in view of its generally positive
connotation of health and growth, green can
also symbolize illness, as in the green of bile or
in someones being said to turn green which
comes from actual loss of the healthy skin
colour (perhaps due to the loss of its
complement, red, from the blush of good
health).

It is also the colour of envy and jealousy,

especially in its less popular mixtures, such as
intense yellow-green and olive green.

Recall that in William Shakespeare's play

Othello, Iago warned his master, O, beware,
my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed
monster...

Green also appears in oddities, such as Little

Green Men from outer space and The
Incredible Hulk. As Jim Henson's creation
Kermit the Frog said, Its not easy being green.
Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), Green Christ (The Breton
Calvary), 1889, oil on canvas, Musees Royaux des Beaux-
Arts de Belgique.

For Gauguin, colour signified mystery. In 1892, he wrote:

"...we use it (colour) not to define form, but to give musical
sensations which spring from it, from its peculiar nature,
from its inner power, its mystery, its enigma..."
John Gage, Colour and Culture, 1993
Yellow is one of the most Yellow
ambiguous colours. It is the colour of
sunlight, gold, and happiness, of
intellect and enlightenment, but it is
also the colour of envy, disgrace,
deceit, betrayal, and cowardice.

In Islam, golden yellow is the colour

of wisdom, and during the Chinese
Qing dynasty (1644-1912), only the
emperor was allowed to wear yellow.

In the Christian tradition, however,

Judas wore a yellow cloak when he
betrayed Jesus with a kiss.

The Beatles 1968 animated film,

Yellow Submarine, was a light-
hearted modern version of the
ancient mythology of good versus
evil. The yellow submarine
symbolized youthful optimism.
In the ancient symbolism of dreams,
pale yellow meant material comfort,
but deep yellow signified jealousy and
deceit.

On the other hand, yellow in nature is

often extolled as cheerful and
charming, as in Wordsworth's 1804
poem Daffodils:

I wanderd lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er Vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils...

In Jungian psychology, yellow

symbolizes the flash of insight called
intuition, which seems to come
from out of the blue or from left
field, which, incidentally, is the visual
field of the right hemisphere of the
brain.
I have always felt it significant, incidentally, that the
enchanting autumnal forest in Robert Frost's poem,
The Road Not Taken, be autumnal, making the line,
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, a
prefigurement of a time when the speaker, though
now young, will see how, when he gets older,
choosing one road over another crucially matters."
Theroux, The Primary Colours, 1994

Brian Bomeisler, Yellow Cross, 1992, oil on canvas.

Collection of the artist.
Blue In world languages, words for the colour
blue came long after words for black,
Blue is a colour that moves easily from reality to white, red, green, and yellow.
dream, from the present to the past, from the colour of
the daytime into the blue amorphous tones of deepest This is surprising in view of the fact that
night and distance . . . In his Farbenlehre, Goethe both sky and water are blue and that this
called blue the colour of enchanting nothingness. blueness is visible nearly everywhere.
Theroux, The Primary Colours
In all of Homer's epics, with countless
references to sky and water (as in the
wine-dark sea) there is no mention of
the colour blue.

Similarly, with hundreds of references to

the sky and heaven in the Bible, the word
blue never appears.

Perhaps this was because the early

writers felt the colour blue to be ethereal
and insubstantialessentially unreal,
unlike the colours red, white, black, green,
and yellow, which were viewed differently.
Blue evokes the void or vast distances, as
in something disappearing into the wild
blue yonder.

Blue is the colour of the millennium [the

twentyfirst century], according to a
recent announcement by a colour-
prediction firm, the Colour Portfolio. It is
serene and pure, like the ocean

In its darker versions, blue represents

authority (the prototypical elected officials
dark blue suit), and, in the symbolic
meaning of colours in dreams, blue means
success.

In its paler versions, blue means

happiness.

In Christianity, the Madonna is usually

clothed in blue, symbolizing fidelity, as
reflected in our modern phrase true blue.
 Yet, like other colours, blue is ambiguous and
mysterious.

Blue connotes reverie, sadness, and

melancholy.

Picasso, in his blue period paintings,

depicted the lowlife of Paris with its sadness
and poverty. When Picasso's mood improved
(along with his living conditions), he initiated his
rose period.

And how many hundreds of sad songs have the

words blue or blues in the titles?

Enigmatically, blue signifies both immorality, as

in blue movies, and Christian morality, as in
blue laws, meaning laws to curb immoral
behaviour, and bluenose, meaning an
excessively puritanical person.

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), The Old Guitarist, 1903-1904, oil on

panel, The Art Institute of Chicago.
 Orange

Orange is singular among the primary

and secondary colours in that it
seems to carry little symbolic
meaning.

Curiously, there is little mood or

feeling connected with the colour
orangethat is, there are no phrases
in our language about feeling orange
or being orange, as there are
phrases about feeling blue, being in a
black mood, being yellow (cowardly),
or thinking green.

Orange is related to heat and fire,

but without the intense feelings
ascribed to red and, as red becomes
more red-orange in mixture, it loses
its meaning of danger.
Mark Rothko (1903-70), Orange and Yellow, 1956, oil
on canvas.
Buddhist monks are highly visible
in their saffron orange robes.

Every decade or so, orange

emerges as a fashionable colour in
clothing and furniture, as it did in the
1960s and the 1980s, and,
according to the colour prediction
industry, it is back in favour again.

Orange is connected to the fall

season and to Halloween, and
seems to carry some connotation of
frivolity, lack of seriousness, or
mischief, but on the positive side,
perhaps, energy without aggression.
Brown

The fact that brown is the colour of

the earth's soil probably explains why
it is one of the few colours named in
early languages (along with black,
white, and pink) that is not a pure
primary or secondary colour.

It frequently symbolizes misery or

gloominess, as in the phrases in a
brown study, meaning in deep
thought, or in a brownout, meaning
loss of focus or ability to concentrate.

The colour of uniforms is often brown,

as in Nazi Germany's Brownshirts, a
particularly unsavoury group.
In a letter to his brother, Van Gogh stated his aims for this painting: ". . . to
emphasize that those people, eating potatoes in the lamplight have dug the
earth with those very hands they put in the dish, and so it speaks of manual
labour and how they have honestly earned their food."
The Complete Letters of Van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh, The Potato Eaters, 1885, oil on canvas.

Purple is a colour associated with deep Purple and Violet
feeling, as in purple passion or
purple with rage.

In early cultures, purple dye was

extremely difficult and expensive to
produce. Therefore, royal purple
quickly came to symbolize the ruling
class, dignity, and power, and purple
clothing was forbidden to those of lower
rank.

A purple patch in painting and in

writing is a section that is overwrought
and even lurid, but fondly clung to by the
painter or writer.

Purple connotes bravery, perhaps an

extension of its connection with royalty, as
with the Purple Heart a heart-shaped
purple-and-gold military medal on a purple
ribbon signifying injury in battle.
Violet, in colour theory, is interchangeable
with purple.

Both are made from red mixed with blue. In

common usage, however, the term violet
calls to mind a somewhat paler, softer hue,
without purples connection with authority
and power.

Violet has a slightly different connotation,

one of sadness, fragility, and
vulnerability.

A shrinking violet is a shy, withdrawn

person, and the phrase the violet hour
refers to dusk, rest, and reverie.
 Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1529-69), Parable of the Blind Men, 1568,
oil on canvas, Galleria Nazionale, Naples.

This sorry train, in its shadow-less incorporeality, has a ghostly, unreal effect."
Itten, The Art of Colour
Pink

Pink, although it is made from red mixed with white, has none of
reds violent connotations.

Pink is quite benign and generally symbolizes light moods.

It is associated with girl babies, femininity, and cotton candy,

although, in its hot pink version, it becomes more aggressive
and sensual.
James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903),
Symphony in Flesh and Pink: Portrait of Mrs.
Frances Leyland, 1871-73, oil on canvas, The
Frick Collection, New York.
 Grey
Grey is the colour of gloom and
depression.

Grey is also the colour of indecision and

uncertaintyof grey areas that defy
direct action.

It is the colour of ash and lead, and it is

associated with ageing.

It carries the connotation of lack of

strong feeling and an abdication of self.

In nature, however, grey is a common

colour that provides camouflage, as in
grey wolves, grey whales, and grey
elephants, which may explain the
otherwise puzzling popularity of
noncommittal grey clothing in the
business world.
The grey lines both bind and
separate the planes of pale
colour, with an overall effect
of indefiniteness.

The painting may reflect the

ennui of postWorld War I
Europe. At the time of this
painting, Mondrian wrote: I
use those mute colours for
the time being, adjusting to
present day surroundings
and the world; this does not
mean I would not prefer a
pure colour."

In Mondrian's later paintings,

the grid lines became black
and the colours became full
intensity reds, blues, and
yellows. Piet Mondrian (1872-1944), Composition: Light Colour
Planes with Grey Contours, 1919, oil on canvas.
This presentation is not intended to be a complete
or scientific presentation of the meanings of
colours but an overview of some general
thoughts and cultural references.

For each of the colours discussed in the following

section, remember that value and intensity
changes modify meaning.

Bright colours indicate intense emotions and pale

colours just the opposite. Additions of other
colours also change meaning.

For example, as red moves toward orange or

toward purple, or lightens in value toward pink, the
meaning changes, taking on modifications related
to the intermingled colours.
Resources
The Elements of Color, Johannes Itten, 1970

Interiors, 4th Ed., Nielson, K. & Taylor D., 2007

Color by Betty Edwards: A Course in Mastering

the Art of Mixing Colors, 2004