CRASH COURSE IN COLOR THEORY

sarah sheldon

what is color theory?

• picking colors that go well together

• why certain colorschemes are pleasing to the eye

• sets the mood

RGB vs CYM color wheels

saturation and value• saturation – intensity of a color

• value – brightness/darkness of a color

• you can create a lot of colors using only one color

saturation and value• “If you can't be a good example,

then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.” –Catherine Aird

• too much saturation- gives the eyes nowhere to rest, hurts to look at after a while

• my soul is burning

saturation and value• in this the colors work better together

• it has high saturation but also the colors are more harmonious

• also, there is no pure white or pure black used

• It’s better than the other piece for a lot of reasons but we’re only here to talk about color

• art improvement is a real thing my dudes

saturation and value

• saturation can be good when used in cartoons, because you’re not looking at a piece that’s attempting to be realistic

• saturated tones can effect the mood of a piece

• saturation stands out well among de-saturation, and can be used to guide the viewer’s eyes

• just don’t overdo it either way

color harmonies

• honestly one of my favorite things

• basically, themes of colors that work well together

• you can use websites to create color palettes or look up premade palettes to get good, harmonious colors

monochromatic• uses variations in saturation and hue in only one

color

• good for single subject works

• draws attention to details

• also really good for atmospheric effect

analogous• uses colors adjacent to

each other on the color wheel

• easy on the eyes

• creates a comfortable mood

triadic• three colors

• equally distant from each other on the color wheel

• best for surreal scenes and cartoons

• really difficult to pull off

complementary• two colors on opposite sides of the color

wheel

• pleasing to the eye

• don’t use both colors equally

• use the weaker color of the two predominantly

• The stronger color should be used as an accent

split complementary• it’s like if complementary and

analogous had a baby

• you get to use three colors now yay

• has a lively and joyous feel to it

• vibrant

tetratic (double complementary)• essentially complementary squared

• two pairs of opposing colors

• best used for foregrounds and backgrounds

• like complementary, do not use the sets of colors in equal quantities

in conclusion

• I hope y’all learned something from this

• it takes a little practice to understand what I’m saying so don’t fret if you don’t get it immediately

• youtube has a lot of good tutorials to learn from

• the color wheel you were taught in elementary school is actually useful for more than just teaching you the names of colors

• color wisely folks

sources

• saturation chart: http://www.xaraxone.com/webxealot/workbook40/page_5.htm

• desaturation chart: http://www.xaraxone.com/webxealot/workbook40/value_01.gif

• rgb color star: https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/930/posts/27408/image/video-thumbnail-color-wheel.jpg

• cym color star: http://ru.science.wikia.com/wiki/%D0%A6%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%B9_%D0%BA%D1%80%D1%83%D0%B3

sources, cont.

• that one hellish drawing- if you REALLY NEED ME TO CITE MY OLD DEVIANTART ACCOUNT see me in person about it, no one needs to know the depth of my embarrassing art past but I can prove that I’m not stealing someone’s art if I really need to

• the prettier, really saturated pastel drawing of mine-http://quesarahsara.deviantart.com/art/melting-away-635606565

• blue and pink color palette- http://www.color-hex.com/color-palette/8733

• mostly blue color palette- http://www.color-hex.com/color-palette/1076

sources, cont. cont.

• peridot palette- http://www.color-hex.com/color-palette/5988

• monochomatic purple flower painting- http://xboxhut.com/easy-monochromatic-painting-ideas-for-your-own-home/easy-monochromatic-painting-ideas-tv-above-fireplace-garage/

• example palettes I created using paletton-http://paletton.com/#uid=14H0u0khUu380NNdbC3lUpTpIlw

• analogous nature painting- https://laurelberninteriors.com/2014/05/04/cheaters-guide-choosing-color-schemes-analogous-colors/

sources, cont. cont. cont.

• triadic painting- https://zartnerds.wordpress.com/2016/04/21/homework-due-for-tuesday-april-26/

• complementary painting- http://willkempartschool.com/complementary-colours/

• split complementary painting-https://janicemillsfineartist.wordpress.com/2013/07/22/split-complementary-colour/

• tetratic painting-http://www.watertown.k12.ma.us/dept/fapa/whs_08_09/color_theory/index.html