Decorative Painting: Color, Color and More Color

Would you like to live in a world of dull, grey tones? Vibrant beautiful colors makes for all the visual beauty found in nature. Artists have always tried to replicate the real world through their paintings and drawings. Artistically we use color to bring life to the flat one dimensional elements to our drawings and paintings. The basic hues of the color wheel is as follows: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Violet.

Colors are described in several ways. First a color has a name. Is the color pure or desaturated? Finally the color has a value or lightness.

Colors have a degree of purity of hue. Next, a color has a level of color brightness or dullness. The value of a color is how bright or dull it appears. A color’s intensity can be lowered by adding White to the color.

The variation of a color is made by adding Black. By mixing black into a color it becomes a shade of that color. A tint is a color with White added to the color. The color wheel represents all the colors: Primary, Secondary and Tertiary. A primary color is not created by mixing other colors. A secondary color is a mixture of two primary colors, such as Blue and Red. The mixture of these two colors will make Purple, a secondary color. A tertiary color is a mixture of primary and secondary colors.

On the color wheel complimentary colors are located opposite each other on the wheel. Analogous colors are found close together on the color wheel. The color wheel is divided into ranges that are visually active or passive. Passive colors recede when put against the active colors.

Active colors are warm, saturated, light value hues and advance visually. Cool, low saturated and dark value hues are passive and visually recede. Tints and hues with low saturation appear lighter than shades or saturated colors.

Analogous colors are placed on the color wheel as to appear that the hues were blended. The colors that are positioned on the color wheel opposite one another are complimentary.

Adjacent or harmonizing colors on the color wheel appear next to each other on the color wheel. Harmonizing colors work well together. If the the colors are too close in value they will appear washed out and therefore there is not enough contrast. Complimentary colors on the other hand are separated by another color on the wheel.

The following is an excerpt from the “The Colors of Excitement” by Jacci Howard Bear.

Warm Colors rev us up and get us going. The warmth of red, yellow, or orange can create excitement or even anger. Warm colors convey emotions from simple optimism to strong violence. The neutrals of black and brown also carry warm attributes.

In nature, warm colors represent change as in the changing seasons or the eruption of a volcano. Tone down the strong emotions of a warm palette with some soothing cool or neutral colors or by using the lighter side of the warm palette as pinks, pale yellows, and peach.

Warm colors appear larger than cool colors so red can visually overpower blue even if used in equal amounts. Warm colors appear closer while their cool counterparts are visually recede on the page.

The following is an excerpt from “The Colors of Calm” by Jacci Howard Bear

Cool colors tend to have a calming effect. At one end of the spectrum they are cold, impersonal, antiseptic colors. At the other end of the cool colors are comforting and nurturing. Blue, green, and the neutral whites, grey and silver are examples of cool colors.

In nature blue is water and green is plant life – a natural, life – sustaining duo. Combine blues and greens for natural, watery color palettes. Heat up a too cool palette with a dash of warm colors such as red or orange. If you want warmth with just a blue palette, choose deeper blues with a touch of red but not quite purple or almost black deep navy blues.

Cool colors appear smaller than warm colors and they visually recede on the page so red can visually overpower and stand out over blue even if used in equal amounts.

The profiles for each of these cool colors include descriptions of their nature, cultural color meanings, how to use each color in design work, and which colors work best together.

The following is an excerpt from the “The Colors of Unity” by Jacci Howard Bear

The neutral colors of black, white, silver, gray, and brown make good backgrounds, serve to unify diverse color palettes, and also often stand alone as the only or primary focus of a design.

Neutral colors help to put the focus on other colors or serve to tone down colors that might otherwise be overpowering on their own. To some extent blacks, browns, tans, golds, and beige colors are considered warm. While white, ivory, silver, and gray are somewhat cooler colors. Yet these warm and cool attributes are flexible and more subtle than that of reds or blues.

The following is an excerpt from the “Color Meanings” by Jacci Howard Bear

Color Relationships

In addition to understanding color meanings, it helps with mixing and matching colors to know the relationship of adjacent, complementary and clashing colors.

Adjacent or harmonizing colors appear next to each other on the color wheel. Harmonizing colors often work well together but if too close in value they can appear to be washed out or not have enough contrast.

Complementary colors are separated by another color on the color wheel. Complementary colors printed side by side can cause visual vibration making them a less desirable combination. However, separate them on the page with other colors and they can work together.

Clashing and contrasting colors are directly opposite each other on the color wheel. Despite the name, colors that clash are not always a bad combination if used carefully. They provide great contrast and high visibility.