KNOWING YOUR COLOURS
As humans, we are most times inspired by the colors we
see around us because they are one of the greatest gifts of nature.
Most often
times, these colors inspire us to bring out the creative ingenuity in us which
we sometimes capture through brilliant paintings.
Colors may seem a little bit easy to understand, but
really thinking about it can lead to many more complex thoughts than you’d
imagined. That’s why it is essential to understand the basics of color and
color theory.
PRIMARY, SECONDARY AND TERTIARY COLORS
PRIMARY COLORS
At the top of any color structure are the primary colors.
Primary colors are the original parents of all the future generations of
colors. They are the root of every other color. Primary colors act as the
building blocks for the formation of all other colors.
They are the three pigment colors that can not be
mixed or formed by any combination of other colors. All other colors are
derived from these three colors. The traditional primaries as they are presented
in art and color theory are:
SECONDARY COLORS
The mixture of two primary colors gives birth to a
secondary color. Secondary colors are achieved specifically by using equal
parts of primary colors I.e. you will need to have just as much of one color as
the other to achieve the true look of a
secondary color. Secondary colors are well referred to as the children of the
three primary colors.
The three secondary colors are:
*Yellow + Red = Orange
*Red + Blue = Purple
*Blue + Yellow = Green
That is to say, the three secondary colors are Orange,
Green, and Purple.
TERTIARY COLORS
The mixture of a primary color with a secondary color
will give birth to a tertiary color. This happens because when a primary color
is mixed with a secondary color, it opens up many different shades of a
particular color.
Tertiary colors can well be said to be the grand
children of primary colors. The six major tertiary colors are derived by mixing:
· Orange
+ Red = Vermilion
· Red
+ Purple = Magenta
· Purple
+ Blue = Violet
· Blue
+ Green = Teal
· Green
+ Yellow =Chartreuse
· Yellow
+ Orange = Amber
That is to say, the six major tertiary colors are:
Vermilion, Magenta, Teal, Violet, Amber, and Chartreuse.
WARM COLORS
· Red
· Yellow
· Orange
Warm colors are those colors that tend to advance in
space and can be overwhelming. These include colors like red, yellow and
orange.
These colors evoke warmth because they remind us of
things like the sun or fire. Colors have a way of influencing our emotions;
they can make us happy, sad, angry, excited and all sorts of other emotions,
both from their association with other things and just for the way they appear
all on their own.
Here are some of the emotional effects that warm
colors have on us.
RED
This is the color of drama and passion. Red is known
to be the color that attracts the most attention and is associated with strong
emotions such as love and anger. This color is universally recognized as a
color that signifies danger, courage, strength, and power.
This is the color of optimism. Yellow is known to be a
compelling color that conveys youthful and fresh energy. This color of sunshine
is uplifting and illuYellow is a color that grabs attention because the eye sees yellow
first before any other color.
minating. Its brightness is associated with success and confidence.
This is the color of encouragement. It is believed
that the combination of yellow and red makes orange a color that conveys excitement,
warmth and enthusiasm. Orange is known as a color of the extroverts because it
is social and inviting. It exudes happiness and joy by making you feel free and
limitless.
CHROMATIC CIRCLE:
Chromatic circle is said to be the circular representation
of colors. In a chromatic circle, colors are ordered in a rainbow sequence, the
circle often being closed by a transition from red to purple via magenta.
On the other
hand, a color circle is an abstract illustration of color hues around a circle,
which shows the relationships between primary colors, secondary colors, and
tertiary colors.
