Color Theory

What is color?• The quality of an object or substance with respect to

light reflected by the object.• To see color, you have to have light. • When light shines on an object some colors bounce

off the object and others are absorbed by it. Our eyes only see the colors that are bounced off or reflected.

• The sun’s rays contain all the colors of the rainbow mixed together. This mixture is known as white light.

• When white light strikes a white crayon or marker barrel, it appears white to us because it absorbs no color and reflects all color equally.

• A black crayon or marker cap absorbs all colors equally and reflects none, so it looks black to us.

• While artists consider black a color, scientists do not because black is the absence of all color.

• A rainbow is testimony to the fact that all the colors of the spectrum are present in white light.

Types of Colors we will go over:• The Color Wheel:

– Primary– Secondary

• Complementary Color Sets

Primary Colors

• Colors you cannot make.

• These are the colors you mix together to make all of the other colors of the color wheel.

• They are PURE colors.

Examples of primary colors in art

Secondary Colors

• These are the colors you get when you mix the primary colors together in equal parts.

• ORANGE• GREEN• PURPLE

Examples of secondary colors in art

Complementary Color Sets

• They are sets of colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel.

• Since they are opposite each other on the wheel they create CONTRAST with each other.

• RED + GREEN• BLUE + ORANGE• YELLOW + PURPLE

Example of Complementary Colors in art