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 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