Primary Colours
In colour mixing for painting, the fundamental rule is that there are three colours that cannot be made by mixing other colours together. These three, red, blue, and yellow, are known as the primary colours.
Secondary Colours
If you mix two primary colours together, you create what is called a secondary colour. Mixing blue and red creates purple; red and yellow make orange; yellow and blue make green. The exact hue of the secondary colour you've mixed depends on which red, blue, or yellow you use and the proportions in which you mix them.
Tertiary Colours
A tertiary colour is created when three primary colours are mixed together. The colour created depends on the proportions of colour mixed.
Task 1:
In your sketchbooks, try and create charts demonstrating the primary, secondary and tertiary colours using poster paints in the fine art centre. Try and be as creative as possible to make your charts visually interesting.
Some examples are shown below:
WARM & COOL COLOURS
Every colour has a certain bias towards what's called warm and cool. It's not something that's overwhelming; it's subtle. But it's an important element in colour mixing as it influences the results. As a group, reds and yellows are considered warm colours and blue a cool colour. But if you compare different reds (or yellows or blues), you'll see that there are warm and cool versions of each of these colours (relative to each other only). It's important to recognize that individual colours have a bias towards cool or warm for colour mixing. If you mix two warms together, you'll get a warm secondary colour and, conversely, if you mix two cools together you'll get a cool secondary.
Task 2:
Now create a colour chart or palette demonstrating what you consider to be warm and cool colours.
Colour Psychology & Meanings
Colour is a meaningful constant for sighted people and it's a powerful psychological tool. By using colour psychology, you can send a positive or negative message, encourage sales, calm a crowd, or make an athlete pump iron harder. Below is a quick overview of the meaning of basic colours in the Western Hemisphere. This information will help you decided what colours to use in your projects. The psychology of colour changes with lighter or darker shades of the colours below are often associated with much different meanings.
Psychology of Colour: Black
Black is the colour of authority and power, stability and strength. It is also the colour associated with intelligence (doctorate in black robe; black horn rimmed glasses, etc.) Black clothes make people appear thinner. It's a sombre colour sometimes associated with evil (the cowboy in the black hat was almost always the "bad guy"). In the western hemisphere black is associated with grieving. Black is a serious colour that evokes strong emotions; it is easy to overwhelm people with too much black.
Psychology of Colour: White
For most of the world this is the colour associated with purity (wedding dresses); cleanliness (doctors in white coats) and the safety of bright light (things go bump in the night ... not the bright sunshine!). It is also used to project the absence of colour, or neutrality. In some eastern parts of the world, white is associated with mourning. White associated with creativity (white boards, blank slates). It is a compression of all the colours in the colour spectrum.
Psychology of Colour: Gray
Gray is most associated with the practical, timeless, middle-of-the-road, solid things in life. Too much gray leads to feeling mostly nothing; but a bit of gray will add that rock solid feeling to your product. Some shades of gray are associated with old age, death, taxes, depression or a lost sense of direction. Silver is an off-shoot of gray and often associated with giving a helping hand, strong character (sterling in-fact!).
Psychology of Colour: Red
If you want to draw attention, use red. It is often where the eye looks first. Red is the colour of energy. It's associated with movement and excitement. People surrounded by red find their heart beating a little faster and often report feeling a bit out of breath. It's absolute the wrong colour for a baby's room but perfect to get people excited. Wearing red clothes will make you appear a bit heavier and certainly more noticeable. (Some studies show red cars get more tickets but that maybe because the red car owners drive faster or the ticket giver notices the movement of the red car more prominently). Red is not a good colour to over use but using a spot of red in just the right place is smart in some cases (one red accent in a otherwise neutral room draws the eye; a red tie with a navy blue suit and white shirts adds just the right amount of energy to draw the eye (no wonder it's the "uniform of the day" at the seats of government). Red is the symbol of life (red blooded life!) and, for this reason, it's the colour worn by brides in China. Red is used at holidays that are about love and giving (red roses, Valentines hearts, Christmas, etc.) but the true colour of love is pink. Pink is the most calming of all colours -- often our most dangerous criminals are housed in pink cells as studies show that colour drains the energy and calms aggression. Think of pink as the colour of romance, love, and gentle feelings, to be in the pink is to be soothed.
Psychology of Colour: Blue
Ask people their favourite colour and a clear majority will say blue. Much of the world is blue (skies, seas). Seeing the colour blue actually causes the body to produce chemicals that are calming; but that isn't true of all shades of blue. Some shades (or too much blue) can send a cold and uncaring message. Many bedrooms are blue because it's calm, restful colour. Over the ages blue has become associated with steadfastness, dependability, wisdom and loyalty (note how many uniforms are blue). People tend to be more productive in a blue room because they are calm and focused on the task at hand. Some studies are showing that weight lifters can lift more weight in a blue gym - in fact, nearly all sports are enhanced in blue surroundings.
Psychology of Colour: Green
The colour of growth, nature, and money. A calming colour also that's very pleasing to the senses. Dark forest green is associated with terms like conservative, masculine and wealth. Hospitals use light green rooms because they too are found to be calming to patients. It is also the colour associated with envy, good luck, generosity and fertility. It is the traditional colour of peace, harmony, comfortable nurturing, support and well paced energy.
Psychology of Colour: Yellow
Cheerful yellow the colour of the sun, associated with laughter, happiness and good times. A person surrounded by yellow feels optimistic because the brain actually releases more serotonin (feel good chemical in the brain) when around this colour. It is the colour associated with optimism but be careful with yellow, when intense, it is the colour of flames and studies show babies cry more in (bright) yellow rooms and tempers flare more around that colour too. It has the power to speed up our metabolism and bring out some creative thoughts (legal tablets are yellow for good reason!). Yellow can be quickly overpowering if over-used, but used sparingly in the just the right place it can be an effective tool in marketing to greater sales. Some shades of yellow are associated with cowardice; but the more golden shades with the promise of better times.
Psychology of Colour: Orange
The most flamboyant colour on the planet! It's the colour tied most this fun times, happy and energetic days, warmth and organic products. It is also associated with ambition. There is nothing even remotely calm associated with this colour. Orange is associated with a new dawn in attitude.
Psychology of Colour: Purple
What colour were the robes of kings and queens? Yes, they were purple, our most royal colour that is associated with wealth, prosperity, rich sophistication. This colour stimulates the brain activity used in problem solving. However, when overused in a common setting it is associated with putting on airs and being artificial/ Use purple most carefully to lend an air of mystery, wisdom, and respect. Young adolescent girls are most likely to select nearly all shades of purple as their favourite colour.
Psychology of Colour: Brown
This colour is most associated with reliability, stability, and friendship. More are more likely to select this as their favourite colour. It's the colour of the earth itself "terra firma" and what could represent stability better. It too is associated with things being natural or organic. Caution however, for in India it is the colour of mourning.
Task: 3
Using your understanding of colour psychology and theory, create two colour palettes; one demonstrating colours associated with hope and one demonstrating colours associated with despair.
No comments:
Post a Comment