Understanding Color Theory: Primary, Secondary, and Harmonious Combinations

The Primary and Secondary Colors

• Color is an element of visual language.
• Basic colors, when mixed in different quantities and with the addition of black, can imitate reality.

Primary or Fundamental Colors

• These are colors that cannot be achieved by mixing any other colors.

Cyan Magenta Yellow

Secondary Colors or Binary

• Obtained by mixing two primary colors together.

Subtractive Mixture

• When all primary colors are mixed together, they produce a visual sensation close to black.

Color Wheel and Complementary Colors

• The color wheel is a pattern formed by a circular geometric figure, used to sort primary and secondary colors for easy visual comprehension.
• Complementary colors are those opposite each other on the color wheel, meaning they do not contain any amount of the opposite color.

Qualities of Color

• Tone, Tint, or Dye: The name given to each color.
• Value or Lightness: Represents the degree of lightness or darkness.
• Clarity is obtained by adding white.
• Darkness is obtained by adding black.
• Saturation: Refers to the degree of purity, brightness, or intensity of a color.
• Color Vision: The eye can perceive the same color differently depending on the lighting, the current size, or surrounding colors.

Color Ranges

• A color gamut is a scale or color gradation ordered according to certain criteria: cold or warm color ranges.
• Expressiveness of Color Ranges: Artistically, color ranges are used for expressive value:
• Cold-end colors are associated with quiet, calm, and seriousness.
• Warm colors range with joy, strength, courage, and aggressiveness.
• Achromatic Range: Uses only white and black.
• Polychrome Images: Feature two or more colors with different degrees and saturation values.
• Monochrome Images: Use a single color with different values for the mixture of black and white.

Harmonious Relations Between Colors

• The combination of colors in a particular artistic work affects the visual effect, expressiveness, and symbolism.
• Harmonizing: How colors are combined, such as similar colors, complementary colors, and black and white colors.
• Related Color Harmony: Harmonious colors with a similar visual effect produce unity and stability.
• Complementary Color Harmony: Using colors opposite on the color wheel creates an effect of attraction, drawing attention to some colors first, then others.
• Harmony of Gray: When colors are combined with black and white. If similar colors are used, it creates a gray harmony.

Complementary colors create gray harmonies.

• Forms are the outward appearance of bodies.
• Characteristics: Color, texture, size, and structure.
• Rating: Originates from natural or artificial sources.

Structure: 2D flat, geometric, organic, and 3D volume.

• Expressiveness of Forms: Closed or open.
• Spatial Relations: Superposition, resizing, etc.