Color Theory Summary

Primary Colors and Color Wheel

• Primary Colors: Red, Yellow, Blue are fundamental colors that cannot be created by mixing other colors.

• They serve as the basis for all other colors on the color wheel.

Secondary Colors

• Created by mixing two primary colors:

  • Red + Yellow = Orange

  • Yellow + Blue = Green

  • Blue + Red = Purple

Key Color Concepts

• Hue: Another term for color; represents the pure range of colors on the color wheel.

• Saturation: Refers to the intensity of a color; high saturation means vibrant colors, low saturation means dull colors.

• Value: Refers to the lightness or darkness of a color; ranges from black to white, creating various shades (e.g., deep reddish-brown to light pastel pink).

Color Schemes

• Monochromatic: Variations in lightness and saturation of a single hue.

• Analogous: Uses colors that are next to each other on the color wheel.

• Complementary: Uses colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel.

• Split Complementary: Variation of the complementary scheme, using one base color and two adjacent to its opposite.

• Triadic: Uses three colors evenly spaced around the color wheel.

• Tetradic: Utilizes four colors forming a rectangle on the color wheel.

Color Associations

• Red: Energy, passion, danger.

• Orange: Friendliness, enthusiasm, adventure.

• Yellow: Happiness, optimism, creativity.

• Green: Nature, growth, peace.

• Blue: Dependability, calmness, intelligence.

• Purple: Royalty, luxury, creativity.

• Black: Elegance, sophistication, power.

• White: Purity, simplicity, innocence.