Researching colour relationships has been a very interesting exercise, and I now feel much better informed on how colour is created and behaves in different mediums. It is interesting to know that the primary colours for light and pigment are different, and mixing those primary colours gives different results. Also interesting is how, as photographers, from a technical viewpoint we are concerned with RGB, but from a creative viewpoint we deal with RBY. My research is garnered from several sources, the details of which can be found at the bottom of the page.
Secondary colours - formed by mixing two adjacent primary colours
Complimentary colours - A primary colour and the secondary colour directly opposite on the wheel (or two opposite tertiary colours). When placed next to each other, they create the strongest contrast and reinforce each other.
Similar (tertiary) colours - A combination of a primary colour and adjacent secondary colour.
Accented colour - 'The accenting colour should be a strong contrast or complement to the principle area of the image and by occupying only a small but significant spot can create a spark of colour, which acts as a catalyst to create energy in the composition'.
Tones - Black through shades of grey to white are not colours, and should not play a principle role in colour relationships.
'a colour has many faces, and one colour can be made to appear as two different colours':
Pigment and light have different primary colours, and mix together differently.
Pigment - Reflected system
Light - Transmitted system
RGB (red, green, blue) is the technical process of recording and displaying colour (this is how digital cameras, monitor screens, our retinas, and colour film work). We use the painter's primaries of red, yellow and blue as this is the way we perceive colour.
Hue, Saturation, Brightness - The three qualities that define a colour. Most people only consider the hue.
Colours evoke emotions at an emotional, subjective level.
Colour works on 3 levels: Visual (the immediately obvious level), Expressive (emotional, evoking subjective sensations), Symbolic (certain colours and combinations are associated with things we have been brought up with).
Photographers can't mix colours as such, but can rearrange the colours of an image by changing viewpoint and/or framing, moving the subject, changing the lighting or a careful choice of filters.
The hue is the prime quality of a colour, and is what gives its uniqueness. Two ways you can influence the hue are by using a different colour of light (as at different times of the day), or by using a coloured filter. Both of these methods affect the whole image, not individual objects.
Brightness is the lightness or darkness of a colour; white and black are the extremes.
Brightness and saturation can be difficult to distinguish between, but in varieties of brilliance the colour remains pure and unadulterated.
The range of lightness and darkness differs between hues. Blue covers the whole range, but there is no such thing as a dark pure yellow for example. Red also turns to pink when very light, so loses its main qualities.
Saturation is a variation in the purity of a colour. The pure, intense colours become more grey, dirty, and less colourful when they become less saturated. This desaturation happens when pure colours are mixed with white, black, grey or their opposite colours on the colour circle.
Primary Colours
Yellow
The lightest and brightest of all colours. Does not exist in a dark form unless degraded.
Radiates light in a picture.
Matching its brilliance with other colours is difficult; a similar blue for example would have to be quite pale.
To be pure it must be an exact hue; there is very little latitude in yellow.
It is most intense against black, and most insipid against white. It is strong when seen against violet and blue.
Expressively, yellow is vigorous and sharp, the opposite of placid and restful.
Blue
Much quieter and less active than red.
The darkest of the three primaries; is at its greatest strength when deep.
It has a transparency that contrasts with red's opacity.
Expressively, blue is, above all, cool. It has associations of intangibility and passivity, and suggests a withdrawn, reflective mood.
Red
A complete contrast to the restrained blue, red is visually one of the most insistent, powerful and attention attracting colours.
It has considerable kinetic energy when set against cooler colours, green in particular.
It is relatively dense and solid.
Secondary Colours
Orange
The mixture of yellow and red, and absorbs some of the qualities of both.
Brilliant and powerful when pure.
When light it tends towards beige, when dark towards brown. It has neutral warmth.
Violet
Pure violet is the darkest colour.
Has rich and sumptuous associations, but can also create and impression of mystery and immensity.
Green
Medium brightness.
The most visible of colours to the human eye.
The colour of growth.
Yellow-green has spring time associations with youth.
Broken Colours
Painters are encouraged to construct hues from the dominant and pure primary and secondary colours.
Photography, by contrast, deals with broken colours found in the real world; pure colours are not common.
Broken colours are seen as a mixture of hues that given a deadened, unsaturated effect.
Black is known as D-Max (maximum density). Weaknesses can be caused in the D-Max by over-exposure, fogging, or altered processing.
White is the complete absence of any tone. Photographically, white needs care in exposure; slight under-exposure makes it appear muddy, slight over-exposure destroyed fine details and gives a washed-out look.
Blending Colours / Basic Colour Combinations
Each colour has an intrinsic brightness, so for complete balance, combinations have to be seen in different proportions.
Goethe's light values: yellow 9, orange 8, red and green 6, blue 4, violet 3. The brightness or darkness of the hue also affects these values.
Red and green: Have the same luminosity, produce a special colour effect called vibration; the edge between the two colours seems to be optically unstable. Pure red and green combinations are unsettling or even annoying to look at for long. Nethertheless the effect is eye-catching and dynamic.
Blue and orange: Orange (8) is twice as luminous as blue (4), so for best balance blue should be twice as large as orange in the image.
Yellow and violet: A combination of the brightest and darkest hues. The constrast is extreme, so the proportions need to be 1:3. At these proportions the sense of relationship between the two is correspondingly weak.
Multi-Colour Combinations
Red/yellow/blue is the most powerful mixture of pure hues.
Other combinations of unbalanced colours can have similarly impressive effects.
Pure hues fight intensely for attention, and the strongest combinations are that of three colours; a fourth introduces excess competition, and the colours dissipate the contrast.
Groups of pure colours make easy, attention grabbing shots. They fit well into a selection of less intense pictures as strong punctuation, but it should not be overdone.
Soft Colours
Diminishing the range of colour intensity has the interesting effect of refining the eye's discrimination. The differences in hue between unsaturated colours are less obvious than with fully saturated colours, and the eye pays more attention in assessing the differences and relationships.
Colour Contrast
The colour circle can be divided in half between cold and warm.
These two halves always have temperature associations, but the strength of the effect depends on context.
Distance
Cool colours recede, warm colours advance.
If the colour of a subject is warm, and that of the background cool, then the impression of depth will be heightened.
Coolness and Warmth
Cool colours suggest transparency and airiness, warm colours opacity and earthiness.
Cool colours suggest wetness, while warm colours suggest dryness.
'(colour) plays a vital part in composition, perspective and atmosphere. It creates spatial awareness, affects mood and provokes strong emotional responses in the viewer'.
The mixing of light is called additive mixing - the more colours that are added together, the closer the result gets to white.
The mixing of pigment is called subtractive mixing - the more colours that are added together, the closer the result gets to black.
Complimentary colours next to each other are strengthened and enriched.
Using colours that are close to one another on the colour wheel is known as analogous colour. This can achieve 'colour harmony', but can also look oppressive and monotonous.
Bibliography
OCA Colour Theory and Relationships
Extract from Interaction of color - Josef Albers
OCA Basic Colour Theory Supplementary
Colour Mixing Bible - Ian Sidaway
The Photographer's Eye - Michael Freeman
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