Category Archives: Class 27

Class 27 | Color Harmony

Critique

  • Review Tonal Progression Studies: Digital Progressions (Tints, Shades, Complements), Painted Progression Freestudy
  • Examine examples of harmonious color combination (your favorite sweater or household object, an advertisement, photograph, book, etc.)

Discussion

Color Harmony: Color Relationships

  • Analogous: colors that are adjacent to each other on the color wheel (example: violet, blue-violet, red-violet). They have the shortest interval and the most harmonious relationship because three or four neighboring hues always contain a common color that dominates the group.
  • Complements: using colors opposite on the color wheel. This relationship often produces visual tension, shock, or electricity (as we observed in our color interaction studies). This is often the least harmonious color relationship. A palette using complements should be “harmonized” with variations in value and saturation. (example: red and green when reduced to chromatic grays soften the effect of simultaneous contrast).
  • Near-Complements: using a color and the color adjacent to its complement. This relationship softens the visual tension produced by using straight complements. (example: red and yellow-green)
  • Split-Complements: based on the triad system, using one color plus two colors on either side of its complement. (example: orange and blue-violet & blue-green). This color scheme adds more variety and an opportunity for a specific accent or focus, if used in unequal proportions.
  • Tetrads: based on a square, this relationship is formed when four colors equally spaced on the color wheel are used (example: green, blue, orange, red). This color relationship is more varied and can easily become un-harmonious without variation in value or saturation.
  • Triads: based on a triangle, three colors are equally spaced from each other. These color formulas create a strong visual contrast.
    • Primary Triad: primary colors, yellow, blue and red, form an equilateral triangle with yellow at the top
    • Secondary Triad: secondary colors, orange, green and violet, evenly spaced between the primaries are mixed from adjacent hues (example: red + yellow = orange)
    • Intermediate Triad: intermediate colors, yellow-green, blue-green, red-violet, etc. are mixtures of a primary color with a neighboring secondary color.

Proportion/Hierarchy/Dominance

In a composition you may wish to have certain colors that are harmonious and share visual qualities (similar value, hue, saturation), and others may need to assert their independence and stand out. These would have less in common with the other colors in the palette (different in hue, saturation and/or value) and would create an accent or focal point. It’s important, when choosing a color scheme, to resist the temptation to use all colors in equal volume. Unequal proportions are more interesting and aesthetically pleasing.

  • Dominant color: color with the largest proportional area – often the ground.
  • Sub-Dominant color(s): colors with less proportional area- they are often analogous colors or variants in tint or shade of the dominant color.
  • Accent color: colors with a small proportional area, but offer contrast due to variation in saturation, value or hue.

References:

LAB

Color Harmony Palettes (to be completed in class)

  1. Analogous Palette
    • Choose three colors that are adjacent to each other on the color wheel.
    • On a piece of bristol, create 3 interlocking forms using your chosen analogous colors.
    • Create color dominance in your palette by varying the saturation or value of one or more of your chosen hues by adding complement, white, or black. Vary the size of your shapes to reinforce the color hierarchy too.
    • Experiment with the Color Theory Simulation – Interactive Tool > Color Schemes > Working with Color Schemes.
  2. Split Complementary Palette
    • Choose three colors: one color plus two colors on either side of its complement on the color wheel.
    • On a piece of bristol, create 3 interlocking forms using your chosen split complementary colors.
    • Create color dominance in your palette by varying the saturation or value of one or more of your chosen hues by adding complement, white, or black. Vary the size of your shapes to reinforce the color hierarchy too.
    • Experiment with the Color Theory Simulation – Interactive Tool > Color Schemes > Working with Color Schemes.

 

Homework

Bring to class:

  • Finished Color Harmony Palettes: Analogous & Split Complementary
  • Finished Tonal Progression Studies: Digital Progressions (Tints, Shades, Complements) and Painted Progression Free-study
  • An example of a harmonious color combination (your favorite sweater or household object, an advertisement, photograph, book, movie, etc.)
  • Your full set of paints or any other color materials you’d like to use