Mrs. Lambert- art notes There are 12 basic colors in the color spectrum. The color wheel organizes them for better understanding of how color works

Mrs. Lambert- art notes The order or the colors on the wheel is important. It doesn't matter which directions the colors are placed as long as they are lined up next to each other as you see here. Usually yellow is at the top of the color wheel but red or blue can be centered at the top as well.

Mrs. Lambert- art notes PRIMARY COLORS There are three primary colors which are yellow, red, and blue. All colors come from these three hues. Hue is another name for color. Notice how these colors are at an equal distance on the color wheel. This will be important to remember later on.

Mrs. Lambert- art notes SECONDARY COLORS There are three secondary colors which are orange, green, and violet. Secondary colors are made my mixing equal portions of any two primary colors. For instance red and yellow make green

Mrs. Lambert- art notes INTERMEDIATE COLORS Intermediate colors are sometimes called tertiary colors. There are six intermediate colors which are yellow-orange, red- orange, red-violet, blue-violet, blue-green, and yellow-green. Equal portions of a primary color and a secondary color next to it make up an intermediate color. Notice that there is a hyphin in the color name and that the primary color is always named first.

Mrs. Lambert- art notes What is Color? Color is the reflection of white light. White is reflecting back all the colors while black is absorbing them. Grey is the mixture of the two, only some of the colors are being reflected back. If you are looking at a yellow shirt, the chemicals in the dye of that shirt are absorbing all the colors except yellow. Yellow is being reflected back to you.

Mrs. Lambert- art notes COLOR CHARACTERISTICS Colors have three main characteristics. ***** Hue: The name of a color Such as red, yellow-green, or magenta which is a combination of red and red-violet. ***** Value: The lightness or darkness of a color Adding black or white can make a color lighter or darker. ***** Intensity: The brightness or dullness of a color Adding gray to a color can dull it.

Mrs. Lambert- art notes COLOR SCHEMES Artists will use combinations of colors to create more interesting and pleasing works. Some combinations are used to make you feel uneasy intentionally MONOCHROMATIC COLOR SCHEMES This scheme is made up of one color and it's tints, tones, and shades. Here we have taken red. Adding a tint makes it pink while adding a shade makes it wine. These create color values. Value is how light or dark a color is. Adding tone dulls the colors giving it a low intensity. Intensity is how bright or dull a color is.

Mrs. Lambert- art notes TRIADIC COLOR SCHEMES Triadic colors are three colors at equal distance apart on the color wheel. There are four basic triadic color schemes. You will notice that the primary colors make up one triadic color scheme. The secondary colors make up another. The intermediate colors are broken into two different triadic color schemes.

Mrs. Lambert- art notes ANALOGOUS COLOR SCHEMES This scheme is made of of three or more colors that are adjacent on the color wheel. Adjacent means 'next to'.

Mrs. Lambert- art notes COMPLIMENTARY COLOR SCHEMES Complimentary colors are two colors that are opposite on the color wheel. They tend to be a strong contrast to each other. Mixing two complimentary colors together can give you shades of brown. SPLIT COMPLIMENTARY A split complimentar color scheme is using a color and the two colors adjacent to it's complimentary color. DOUBLE SPLIT COMPLIMENTARY A double split complimentry color scheme is using the two colors adjacent to both complimentary colors.