We are very much surrounded by colour within our immediate environment and in nature. We live with colour daily in as much as we can see. It is easier to remember colours of an object more than its shape or form.
People have their own colour preference and they give various meaning to such colours.
The study of science has shown that colour is present in light. One of such great scientists who made such remarkable discovery on colour theory was Sir Isaac Newton. He discovered the colours of the spectrum which is the sequential arrangement of colour such as the 'rainbow', through the use of a prism. The colours of the spectrum are Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet (ROYGBIV).
Colour is an essential element in art. It adds beauty to the work of art and makes them more attractive. Such works become more solid with colour. It affects our choice of goods and materials. Colour affects our mood at any given situation and on different occasion. However, colour is seen by artists as a kind of pigment applied to a surface, shape or design to make it more appealing to the senses. Another name for colour is 'hue'.
1. CLASSES OF COLOUR
Primary Colours: - They are otherwise called Basic Colours. This is so because they cannot be obtained by mixing any other colours together. They form the source of most other colours. Primary colours are Red, Yellow and Blue.
In art, such colours which are in the form of pigment are obtained from natural substances like plants. Sometimes such colours are represented by their first alphabet e.g.-
Red = R, Yellow = Y and Blue = B
b. Secondary Colours: - A mixture of two primary colours in equal proportion results in secondary colour. Another name for secondary colour is Binary hue or colour just as the word 'Basic' is associated with primary colour. Example:-
Red + Yellow = Orange
Red＋Blue = Violet Or Purple
Blue + Yellow = Green
The set of colours by the right hand side are the secondary colours.
c. Intermediate Colours: - They are the mixture of a primary and a neighboring secondary colour. In such a mixture, the primary colour normally appears dominant because of its double appearance. This is why such primary colour is written first when writing the intermediate hue, for example, Red - Violet (RV) results from R + R/B. Red is dominant and the physical appearance will be a Reddish Violet.
Since there are three primary and three secondary colours, the total number of intermediate colours shall be six, two to each primary colour. Example:-
Primary + Secondary = Intermediate
Red + Violet = Red - Violet (RV)
Red + Orange = Red - Orange (RO)
Yellow + Green = Yellow- Green (YG)
Yellow + Orange = Yellow-Orange (YO)
Blue + Violet = Blue - Violet (BV)
Blue + Green = Blue - Green (BG)
However, further experiment with colour has shown that the number of intermediate colours is unlimited because the proportions of each mixture can be varied to an unlimited degree. In other words, there is no one yellow-green possible by mixing green and yellow. If more yellow is used, a different yellow-green results than when more green is used.
The hues of intermediate colours change as we move around the colour wheel because the wavelengths of the light rays that produce these colours change. Hues containing a common colour, although in different proportions, are known as analogous hues/colours, and their combination produces a feeling of colour harmony in a work of art.
The colour wheel (fig. 31a) illustrates the relationships between the various colours. The farther away hues are from each other, the less they have in common and the higher their contrast. Analogous harmonies combine colours adjacent to one another on the colour wheel, such as red, red-orange, and orange.
Numerous other colour harmonies have been identified and named. Artists themselves, however, are more likely to speak generally of working with a restricted palette or an open palette.
a. The hues on the right side of the colour wheel arranged according to gradations on a grey value scale.
b. Two hues-red- and green- in a full range of values from high light to low dark.
Tertiary Colours: - The mixture of two secondary colours gives a tertiary.
Tertiary colours can be described as partly neutralized colours. Every tertiary colour has a predominant primary colour with a neutralizer. The following table will explain better how tertiary colours can be obtained.
Tertiary How Obtained Neutralizer Result
Tertiary Red Orange + Violet Green Reddish Brown
(R+Y) + (R+ B) (R+Y) + (R+B)
Tertiary Yellow Orange + Green Violet Smoky Yellow
(R+Y)+ (B + Y) (R+B)
Tertiary Blue Violet + Green Orange Slake Blue
(R+ B) + (Y + B) (R+Y)
e. Complimentary/Contrasting Colours: When two primary colours are mixed, it becomes a complimentary of the third.
They are often referred to as opposite colours when describing them in reference to the colour wheel. For example:-
Violet (R + B) is complimentary to Yellow Orange (R+ Y) is complimentary to Blue Green (Y + B) is complimentary to Red
f. Harmonious Colours: - These are colours that agree so well with one another when put into use. They are often called family colours because they at least share the same basic colour.
Principles of Colour Harmony can be stated as follow: -
i. Ensuring that colours used are related to one another in distinct ways.
ii. Allowing one colour to dominate the others.
How harmony could be achieved in colour mixing
i. Harmony could be achieved by making use of Analogous or Adjacent colour combinations. Analogous are two or more colours that lie side by side on the colour wheel, one of which should be given some prominence.
ii. Complimentary colours, when used in an unequalled area and intensity could result in very good harmony both in design and in painting.
Such an excellent harmony can only be achieved by neutralizing one of the complimentary colours. Failure to do this often results in terrible colour riots.
iii. Use of a single colour together with a neutral colour could produce a very pleasant harmony of hue. For better result such colour and the neutral one should not share similar dominance in the design. The type of neutral colour chosen depends largely on the intensity of that single colour.
Examples: -A single warm tone on the sides of Red and Yellow will go very well with black or dark grey while a cool colour in the family of blue and purple will appear pleasant with white or light grey.
G Triads: - This is the use of three colours that are approximately at equal distance from one another on the colour wheel. To avoid running into unpleasant contrast, I.N. Uzoagba in his book- 'Understanding Art in General Education' suggests that two of such triad colours be partly neutralized. Such colour mixture can also be given a blending touch with small addition of the third colour.
Alternatively, one of the three colours may be neutralized and another confined to a small area; leaving the third dominant. All these are geared towards creating some harmony in the colours. Examples of Triad family are: - Red, Yellow, Blue (Primary Triads)
Orange, Green, Violet (Secondary Triads)
Yellow- Orange, Red- Violet, Blue-Green.
Yellow-Green, Blue- Violet, Red-Orange.
H. Neutral Colours: - They are colours without a particular hue because they do not reflect any single wave length of light but all of them at once or none sometimes. This is why they are placed outside the colour wheel.
However, they play very important role in creating shades and tints to other hues. Neutral colours are black, white and grey or ash. We use black to shade or darken a colour while we use white to tint or lighten a colour.
i Warm Colours: - These are colours with great heat or light. In addition, warm colours show a lot of brilliance, thereby making them to advance towards the viewer.
Such colours include Red, Yellow and Orange.
j. Cool Colours: - They are colours that produce coldness on our emotions psychologically. Apart from black, cool colours have a lot of blue hue in them and tend to recede or move backwards from the viewer.
They are Blue, Green, Blue-Green, Violet, and Blue-Violet.
k. Local Colours: - These are the natural colours of objects as they appear to the eyes in daylight. They are the objective colours free of any influence from reflected light or colour. Examples - green plants, blue sky, red fire etc. to the study of colour
Monochrome: - It is the use of a single colour together with its various graded tones in painting.
Polychrome: - This is painting or doing other works of art in many colours
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