110.1 Notes- Color Theory

Notes:

• There are 2 main methods of coloring:

  • Temporary

    • Adding color pigment that shampoos out (immediately or over time)

  • Permanent

    • Either by adding or removing color pigment

• Color

  • Science:

    • Visual perception of light

    • All colors is a group of electromagnetic waves/wavelengths traveling through space/time, grouped into 2 categories:

      • Radio waves

      • Electromagnetic waves

    • Wavelengths visible with the naked eye create color, and cannot be seen unless reflected off of an object

  • Law of color

    • Only 3 colors (yellow, red, blue), called the primary colors, are pure colors, meaning they cannot by created by mixing together any colors

    • When 2 of the 3 primary colors are mixed in equal proportions, they produce the 3 secondary colors:

      • Orange (yellow and red)

      • Green (blue and yellow)

      • Violet (red and blue)

    • Mixing a primary color with its neighboring secondary color in equal proportions makes the 6 tertiary colors:

      • Yellow-orange

      • Red-orange

      • Red-violet

      • Blue-violet

      • Blue-green

      • Yellow-green

  • Color wheel

    • A 12-hue color circle that is created from the 3 primary colors, which then are used to create the 3 secondary and 6 tertiary colors, positioned in a circle, allowing any mixed color to be described in relation to the primary colors

      • The name of a color (hue/tone) is identified by its position on the wheel; the tone of a hair color can be described as warm, cool or neutral

  • Warm/cool colors

    • Colors can be classified as either warm colors (warm tones) or cool colors (cool tones)

      • Warm tones generally fall into the yellow, orange or red half of the color wheel

      • Cool color tones generally fall into the green, blue and violet half of the color wheel

      • Yellow-green and violet-red can be considered warm or cool, depending on whether they contain more of the cool tones or warm tones

  • Complementary colors

    • Found opposite one another on the color wheel

    • When 2 complementary colors are combined, the result contains all three primary colors

    • When complementary colors are mixed together in varying proportions, they neutralize or cancel one another out, eventually producing a neutral color, such as certain shades of gray, black, or brown, depending on the proportions used

    • Colors that don’t exhibit warm or cool tones are considered neutral colors

    • Often used to correct or neutralize unwanted tones

  • Characteristics of color

    • Main characteristics of color:

      • Hue

        • Named and abbreviated for easy reference based on their position on the color wheel, often used by manufacturers to identify the specific hues of hair coloring products

        • Primary and secondary hues are all abbreviated by their first initial (eg. Y for yellow and R for red)

        • Names of the 6 tertiary colors are combinations of the primary and secondary color (eg. RO for red-orange and BV for blue-violet)

      • Level/value

        • The color level/value is the degree of lightness or darkness of a color, relative to itself and to other colors

        • EG:

          • Yellow is characterized as a light color

          • Red is described as a medium color

          • Blue is known as a dark color

        • Colorists talk about the value of the hair colors with either: fields or levels; all hair colors can be categorized into 3 major fields:

          • Light

          • Medium

          • Dark

          • (Fields get further subdivided into medium dark and medium light, etc.)

        • The level system is a numbering system that identifies the lightness or darkness of hair colors in smaller specific increments

          • Both natural and artificial hair color is divided into 10 numbering levels:

            • Darkest hair color is level 1

            • Lightest hair color is level 10

            • Some manufacturers use a 1-12 numbering system that operates the same way, 12 being the lightest

          • You can further understand the level by taking the photo in black and white pigment, seeing the various shades of gray which represent the relative lightness or darkness of the colors in the photo

        • Hair colorists use value and levels to classify hair color as light, medium or dark when measured against a gray scale

      • Intensity

        • Refers to the vividness, brightness or saturation of a color within its own level, the intensity of a color can range from mild to strong

        • Words used to describe the intensity of a color include:

          • Strong intensity

            • Deep, vibrant, rich

          • Soft intensity

            • Subtle, muted, soft

        • Describes the strength of a color’s tone, not its lightness or darkness; the most intense version of a color is referred to as pure because it represents the most saturated version of that color

        • Use the color chart to identify the intensity of colors and how the intensity relates tot eh value

          • Primary colors, in their purest intensity, vary in level, with pure blue being the darkest of the three primary colors