Color Theory

Introduction

Color theory: a body of principles which provide guidance on the relationship between colors and the physiological impacts of certain color combinations.
Color theory is one of the most fundamental areas of painting.
The importance of understanding color theory far exceeds simply knowing how to mix colors together (for example, knowing that yellow and blue make green).

General principals of color theory were evident in writings of Leone Battista Alberti (c.1435) and the notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (c.1490).
The first color wheel was developed by Sir Isaac Newton around the start of the 17th century.
- This color wheel was an arrangement of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet on a rotating disk.
Since the origination of the color wheel by Newton, it has become one of the most powerful tools available to artists for explaining the relationship between colors.
The three primary colors in the ARTS are red, blue and yellow.
The three secondary colors are green, orange and purple.
- These are made by mixing two of the primary colors.
There are six other tertiary colors.
- Tertiary colors are made by mixing primary and secondary colors
Using the primary colors, you could mix pretty much any color in the spectrum.
This is why a solid knowledge of color theory is so important when it comes to painting and mixing your colors.
This is also why you should always at a very least have the primary colors on your palette.