Design Resources: Color Basics

Design Resources: Basic Color Notes	Course Index Design Index

Arthur Dirks Professor of Theatre Arts, Bridgewater State College	Print This Page

Color Basics and Color Wheels

Hue: Position of a color in the spectrum
Primary: Spectrum hue that cannot be reproduced by mixing. Painters work from a basic palette of 12 hues.

Value: Movement of a color toward white:
Tints: Lighter values ("higher")
Shades: darker values ("lower")
Generally seven steps from white to black is practical and clearly distinguishable. Chroma: Purity of a hue from complementary mixture: movement toward neutral; higher chroma is more pure. Generally four steps from pure to neutral is practical
Pigment: Coloring agent; chemical properties of a color

Twelve principle hues:

1. Red 2. Red-orange (Cadmium red)
3. Orange
4. Yellow - orange (Cadmium yellow, golden yellow)
5. Yellow
6. Yellow-green (Lemon yellow)

7. Green
8. Blue-green (Forest green, Hooker's green)
9. Blue (Navy, Prussian blue)
10. Blue-violet (Ultramarine blue)
11. Violet
12. Red-violet (Alizarin crimson)

Primaries are not available in pure form. Artists find various pigments that will produce colors close to what they wish.

Emotional responses to color are a function of
a) Experience
b) Tradition

Color Schemes:
a) Monochrome: One hue with variations in chroma and value
b) Analogous: Closely related hues on wheel
c) 3rd and 5th Interval: Hues of like primary mixtures
d) Complementary: use of hue opposites.

Color plot: Combination of color chips in groups to be used in the production for matching paint.