Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Some Basic Art Vocabulary

A Guide to Color Theory.  Color Definitions. 

Primary Colors: Red, yellow and blue.  These are your parent colors, all colors are made from these three colors.  They can not be created from any other colors. 


Secondary Colors: Green, orange, and violet.  Secondary colors are created when two primary colors are combined together in equal parts.  

Blue + Yellow = Green

Red + Yellow = Orange

Red + Blue = Violet



An image of a color wheel with both primary and secondary colors:



Adding Intermediate (Tertiary) Colors

Intermediate Colors or Tertiary Colors: These are created by mixing one primary color with a neighboring secondary color.  Doing this once over with the 6 colors that you are already working with sets you up with the basic RYB (red, yellow, blue) color wheel consisting of 12 colors. 



Complimentary Colors: Any 2 colors directly across from each other on the color wheel.  They work together by bouncing off each other. 


Analogous Colors: These are any 3 colors that are next to each other on the color wheel.  Analogous means that there is a close relationship with respect to the hues.






Warm Verses Cool Colors


Aggressive Colors (Warm Colors) - Reds, oranges, and yellows
Receding (Cool Colors) - Greens, blues, and violets


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