Materials Needed

• gouache paints from Supply List
• brushes
• ruler
• t-square
• pencils
• 9×12″ bristol

Lecture

The Elements: basic components used as part of any composition, independent of the medium.

Color

• Hue: Designates the common name of a color, determined by the specific wavelength of a ray of light and/or its position in the spectrum or color wheel.
• Saturation: Refers to the relative purity of a color or its inherent light.
  Levels of Saturation
  • Prismatic Color: As pure a hue as possible with pigments/paint.
  • Muted Color: Colors that lie just outside the prismatic zone, created by adding black, white, gray or a complement of a hue.
  • Chromatic Gray: Grays that exhibit a subtle, but discernible hue, created by adding larger amounts black, white, gray or a complement of a hue.
  • Achromatic Gray: Grays that lack a perceptible hue and saturation.
• Luminosity: Refers to Value; lighter colors are more luminous than darker colors, but a lighter color is not necessarily more saturated.
• Primary Color Triad: Red, Yellow, Blue – three colors that cannot be created from mixtures of hue and when mixed in equal or unequal amounts can produce all possible colors.
• Secondary Color Triad:Orange, Green, Violet – colors created by mixing equal proportions of any two Primary Colors.
  • orange  (mix red + yellow)
  • green   (mix yellow + blue)
  • violet    (mix blue + red)
• Complementary Colors: Colors opposite on the color wheel
  • red and green
  • yellow and violet
  • blue and orange.

Lab

Exploration

• COLOR WORQX – color theory overview
• Color Theory for Designers : The Meaning of Color

Color Triads (FreeStudy)

• Using your ruler, lightly draw two intersecting triangles on a piece of 9″x12″ bristol.
• With your color wheel as a guide, practice mixing and applying colors on a piece of scrap paper, first. Make sure you have achieved the proper hue before applying the paint to paper.
• Then fill in the tips of each triangle with the primary and secondary triads. Do NOT use pre-mixed paint hues. You must mix secondary triads from the primary triad: Red, Yellow and Blue.
• Once you have successfully created the two triad relationships (primary and secondary), further develop your composition and create a FreeStudy!
• Think about what each color might represent: mood, emotion, object.
• Experiment with mixing all three primary colors together, what color is produced?
• What happens when you mix two complementary colors together?
• You may choose to cut out the color swatches and incorporate them with other materials, but make sure your final composition is laid out with a clear connection to the original triads and their placement on the color wheel.
• References:
  

  

  Primary, Secondary, Tertiary

  

  Primary & Secondary Triads

  
  

HOMEWORK

• Finish Color Triad FreeStudy
• Materials Needed: Same as today!