Arno Nel 2.0

Wikipedia:

“In the arts of painting, graphic design, and photography, color theory is a body of practical guidance to color mixing and the visual impact of specific color combinations. Although color theory principles first appear in the writings of Alberti and the notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci , a tradition of “colory theory” begins in the 18th century, initially within a partisan controversy around Isaac Newton’s theory of color and the nature of so-called primary colors. From there it developed as an independent artistic tradition with only sporadic or superficial reference to colorimetry and vision science.”

Featured Resource

handprint: color vision:

“Vision and color are at the heart of painting. Here is the most comprehensive discussion for artists of color perception, color psychology, “color theory” and color mixing available online, and one of the most comprehensive available anywhere in any format.”

• light and the eye
• colormaking attributes
• the geometry of color perception
• basic forms of color
• adaptation, anchoring & contrast
• additive & subtractive color mixing
• do “primary” colors exist?
• modern color models
• the structure of vision (i)
• the structure of vision (ii)
• color in the world
• tonal value
• color temperature
• color wheels
• mixing with a color wheel
• testing the color wheel
• an artist’s color wheel
• toward a modern color theory

Other Resources

Color Matters:

“Color theory encompasses a multitude of definitions, concepts and design applications. All the information would fill several encyclopedias. As an introduction, here are a few basic concepts.”

Color Theory:

“For a long time, now, there has been a problem that fledgling designers have run into on a constant basis. This problem seems insignificant to most, but in actuality it is quite possibly the most important factor in a design or piece of artwork. Yes, you guessed it…I’m talking about the issue of COLOR.”

Color Wheel Pro- Color Theory Basics:

“Color Theory is a set of principles used to create harmonious color combinations. Color relationships can be visually represented with a color wheel — the color spectrum wrapped onto a circle.”

Wet Canvas- 16 Theories on Color:

“In an age like ours, color is not the luxury it was in past centuries. We are inundated by manufactured color — surrounded, immersed, swimming in a sea of color. Because of sheer quantity, color is perhaps in danger of losing some of its magic. I believe that using color in drawing and painting helps us to recapture the beauty of color and to experience once again the almost hypnotic fascination it once had for us.”

Tiger Color- Introduction to Color Theory

“With colors you can set a mood, attract attention, or make a statement. You can use color to energize, or to cool down. By selecting the right color scheme, you can create an ambiance of elegance, warmth or tranquility, or you can convey an image of playful youthfulness. Color can be your most powerful design element if you learn to use it effectively.”

Color Cube- Color Theory:

“Color is a phenomenon of light caused by how our eyes detect differing qualities of projected or reflected light. Because science and technology has allowed us to understand the physiology of the human eye, to measure wavelengths of light and chart energy patterns, we have come a long way in grasping the complexities of color. Please find below how we define the dimensions of color in terms of hue, lightness, saturation and other characteristics of light. While this article is not the most comprehensive text on color, we hope it serves to increase your understanding of it.”

Colors on the Web - Color Theory:

“In color theory, we often talk about the color wheel. A color wheel is really just the spectrum twisted around so that the violet and red ends are joined. The color wheel is particularly useful for showing how the colors relate to each other and how you can create new colors by mixing two or more colors.”

Worqx - Color Theory Overview:

“If you are involved in the creation or design of visual documents, an understanding of color will help when incorporating it into your own designs. Choices regarding color often seem rather mystical, as many seem to base decisions on nothing other than “it looks right.” Although often told I had an eye for color, the reason why some colors worked together while others did not always intrigued me and I found the study of color theory fascinating.”

DevSource - Color Theory for Developers:

“Color theory may sound like a subject for the Art Department, not for developers. But we’ve all had the experience of choosing a color scheme using the property grid to select named colors and ending up with a really garish color scheme. In an ideal world it might be the case that only our software’s functionality really mattered but, in the world that we actually live in, users are likely to prefer software with a sophisticated color scheme over software with an ugly color scheme.”

Color Theory Primer:

“Now I can’t relate an entire course here, nor would I be qualified to do so, however I will lay down some important primer and definitions garnered from my own personal education and experience, as well as various resource materials.The following color theory is based more on subtractive color which is the color we see around us in a day to day life, or used in painting printing, etc. Additive theory involves Red, Green, Blue (what we see on screen and produced by video devices).”