Elin’s problem?

Elin has a design task to complete for homework, she needs to produce full colour drawings of her designs. She has three bottles of paint at home red, yellow and blue. How can she produce the full range of colours, that she might need to complete her design task?

Jot some notes down to advise her.

In this unit we are going to look at how the colour wheel can be used as a tool, to help us understand

how to use colour effectively. We are going to investigate the colour relationships of : • primary, secondary & tertiary colours • complementary colours• harmonious colours • monochromatic colours• warm and cool colours • associations we have with colours.

Colour wheel as a tool to help us use colour effectively

Strategies for effective use of colour.

Some people find using colours easy and you

may have heard it said that “someone has an eye for colour combinations”. A range of strategies have been devised,

which will help you to decide which colours can give you the effect you are looking for.

The Colour Spectrum

red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.

Who discovered this concept?

How did he create the colour wheel?

This is now recognised as the colour wheel and is used as a tool for understanding colour relationships.

Sir Isaac Newton bent the colour spectrum into a circle.

His experiments showed that light can

be combined to form different colours. For example combining blue and yellow light produces a green light.

Sir Isaac Newton in 1666 found that a

beam of light can be separated into the same range of colours found in the

natural rainbow.

Pure white light is made up of 7 visible colours can you name them?

Colour wheel What are the three primary colours ?

What are secondary colours?

red yellow blue are known as primary colours and they are the only

colours not made from other colours.If an equal amount of 2 primary colours are mixed together, a secondary colour is produced: green purple orange

If an equal amount of a primary and a secondary colour

is mixed together, a tertiary colour is produced.

Complementary colours are diagonally

opposite one another on the colour wheel.

Colour relationship - complementary colours

What are the complementary colours of orange and red?

What are complementary colours? (sometimes known as contrasting colours)

Colour relationship - complementary colours

Which is the most noticeable square?

The purple and yellow squares are the only complementary colour

combination. They work well together and catch your attention first. Complementary colours enhance and contrast each other, adding

excitement and energy to the colour combination.

From the word bank below select two words that you think describes the most noticeable square.

vigour, dull, impact, calming, exciting, energy, boring, colourful.

Proportion of colour As mentioned complementary colours work well together and make one another stand out.

However, care needs to be taken when using complementary colours together. Study the blocks below and answer the following questions.

As a general rule, one complementary colour should dominate

and the other should be used in a smaller proportion.

Which colour do you see first?

In A your eyes were competing to look at both colours.

In B and C your eyes are drawn to the larger proportion of colour.

A B CA B C

Colour relationship - harmonious colours

Harmonious colours are found next to each other on the colour wheel.

Colours which are next (adjacent) to each other on the

wheel go well together and create harmony.

What are harmonious colours?

Using harmonious colours

One strategy to

remember is that every colour is part of the

colour next to it.

How can we make sure that we use colours that work together?

Think of harmonious

colours as ‘families’ of colours next to each other.

Harmonious colours are also known as analogous colours.

Using harmonies colours together – red ‘family’ colours

Colours which are next (adjacent) to each other on the wheel go well together and create harmonious effect.

These colours have been used here, what do you think of the effect?

One way of finding which colours are harmonious is to select a

primary colour e.g. red, and the three colours either side of it.

Using harmonies colours together – yellow ‘family’ colours

These colours have been used here, what do you think of the effect?

Select the primary colour yellow and three colours either side.

Using harmonies colours together – blue ‘family’ colours

These colours have been used here, what do you think of the effect?

As these colours are next to each other, they should work well together.

Select the primary colour blue and three colours either side.

Using harmonies colours together – blue ‘family’ colours

These colours have been used here, what do you think of the effect?

As these colours are next to each other, they should work well together.

Select the primary colour blue and three colours either side.

Colour relationship - monochromic colours

To show this lightness and darkness, the colour wheel has more rings.

Two smaller rings for lighter

colours known as tints.

Two larger rings for darker

shades.

The 12 colours that are found in the colour wheel are also

known as hues.

Within each colour or hue there is a lightness and darkness.

hue

Colour relationship - monochromic colours

Hue + black = shade tint = white +

hue shadetint

Recap

What is the difference between a shade or a tint?

A monochromic colour is one colour or hue with black or white added to it.

Colour relationship - monochromic colours

As monochromic colours are tints and shades of a single colour,

their appearance is more peaceful and subtle.

The advantage of monochromic colour schemes is that they are easier to use, and the result is visually pleasing.

The disadvantage is that the colour scheme lacks contrast and is not as

vibrant or energetic.

Look at the graphic illustration below and decide which colour relationship they use: primary, secondary, tertiary, harmonious, complementary, monochromic.

Colour relationship – which one?

primary monochromic complementary

harmonious

Warm colours appear to come forward towards the viewer.

Cold colours appear to recede into the distance away from the viewer.

Warm and cool colours?

Which colours do you consider to be warm or cool?

Another way to check which are cool and warm colours:

Do you agree?

Task – use the face opposite to

show the effect of warm and cool colours in images.

The left should show the effect of

cool colours and the right, warm colours.

How does the colouring affect the appearance of each side of the face?

Click to view both sides of the faces in cold and warm colours

Colour interaction

Look at the squares below and quickly answer the following questions:

A B C D

Q 3. Which is the larger red square?

Q 1. Which is the brightest red square?

Q 2. Which is the dullest red square?

Red appears more brilliant on a black background.

White has a neutral effect.

The red appears flat and lifeless when combined with orange.

Turquoise makes the red look brighter.

Q 3 The red square appears larger on the black than any other of the coloured backgrounds.

Colour interaction

Answers: All the squares are the same size and same shade of red was used throughout , but appear differently because:

A B C D

Designers often experiment with colours to see the effects of colour combinations before making a final decision.

Q1 & 2

Black

Green

Blue

Purple

Red

Orange

Pink

Yellow

White

Expression through colour See if you can match the colours to the associated emotions on the right hand side.

nature

death

cold

royalty

anger

energizes

‘girlie’

warmth

brightness

nature

death

cold

royalty

anger

energizes

‘girlie’

warmth

brightness

Expression through colour

power, self confidence, death, mysterious, sophisticated, rebellion

Black:

Green:

soothing, calm, relaxing, well-being, health, luck, life, growth, nature, jealousy, envy, positive, success

cold, tranquillity, peace, fresh, strong, light, friendly, calming, importance, intelligence

Blue:

Expression through colour

anger, conflict, danger, love, blood, heat, fire, success, respect, power, importance, speed

Red:

healing, peaceful environment, royalty, delicate, mystery, excitement

Purple:

energizes, warmth, nature, earth, enthusiasm, flamboyant, good health, mentally stimulating, autumnal

Orange:

Expression through colour

warmth, brightness, energizes, stimulates the brain, nature, spring, happiness, friendship, hazard

brightness, cleanliness, lightness, purity, peace.

Yellow: White:

soothing, “girlie”, relaxing to the body, creativity

Pink:

Expression through colour Colour is considered to be the most useful and powerful design tools that we have. People respond to different colours in different ways. Colours can be used to

represent moods or feelings. How does each of the following photographs make you feel?

vibrant and patriotic

Calm & relaxed

Dull, mysterious & cold

Cheerful & energetic

peaceful, relaxed & fresh

excitement and daring

Colour wheel = recap

Name the primary colours.

Name the secondary colours.

How do you make a tertiary colour?

What is a contrasting colour?

What is contrasting to green?

What are harmonious colours?

What are the six colours harmonious to blue ?

What are monochromic colours ?