COLOR IN THE DESIGNUnderstanding Color in Theatre

IntroductionWhat this unit is all about

Color is light!Color is in the eye, for no two

people see color the same way and some are color-blind!

Color is paint; light merely reveals it!

Color is in the mind – after all, people

can dream in color!

It’s ALL of that stuff!

Scenic Designer James Noone, of Boston University

We need 3 main terms to describe color in an objective way:

HUEVALUE

CHROMA

Color in Light

HUE1. The first variation of color.2. The position of a color in the electromagnetic spectrum.

The six easily identified hues in light and pigment.

PRIMARY HUES1. The three hues which form the basis for mixing color in light and pigment.2. In light: red, blue, green.3. In pigment: red, yellow, blue.

SECONDARY HUES1. Hues produced by mixing any pair of primary hues.

VALUE1. The second variation of color.2. The light-to-dark ratio of a hue or mixed color.

TINTS SHADES

Used by painters more than lighting designers, in part because in colored light there is no “black” – just the absence of light.

The main limiting factor in a value scale is the eye’s ability to perceive differences between steps in the scale.

White HighLight Light

LowLight Medium Black

Low DarkDark

HighDark

See Color Plate 8-2 in text for integration of hue and value.

CHROMA1. The third variation of color.2. The degree of pureness, or freedom from neutrality.3. Sometimes known as “intensity.”

NEUTRAL means GRAYSCALE.

See Color Plate 8-3 in textbook for how this works…

Color MixingWhat we do to make new colors and match old ones.

ADDITIVE MIXING1. The blending of colored light from two or more sources.

Try this out for yourself!

SUBTRACTIVE MIXING1. The crossing or combining of color mediums in

front of a single source of light. (Filtering out hues.)

Color in PaintWithout a light source, there is no visible color! A colored surface reflects only the colors of that surface, i.e. a red surface will reflect red light and absorb all others.

Because we must use subtractive mixing for these mediums of color, instead of six principal hues we use twelve. Using twelve full-intensity hues allows an artist greater versatility when mixing and reduces neutralization that occurs in subtractive mixing.

PIGMENT1. The coloring agent in paints, dyes, and nature.2. The chemical properties that create hue.

Madder plant

Indigo plantvarious ochres

The Color Wheel

Color ManipulationColor Schemes

MONOCHROMATICOne color, across the entire value scale.

ANALOGOUSThree neighboring hues.

THIRD INTERVIALThree colors, once removed.“hue, skip, hue, skip, hue”

FOURTH INTERVALOne pair of complimentary colors, plus one“hue, skip 2, hue, skip 2, hue”

FIFTH INTERVALTriad creating an equilateral triangle.“hue, skip 2, hue, skip 3, hue, skip 2”

SPLIT COMPLEMENTAvoids direct contrast by using softer hues

COMPLEMENTARYDirect opposites on the color wheel

COLOR CHORDS

Adding LightHow do the two mediums combine on stage?

TRY IT OUT!