Colour Theories

& Some
Applications
“The purest and most thoughtful minds are those 
which love color the most.”
— John Ruskin 
Scientific & Philosophical Interests &
Origins of Modern Colour Theory
• Isaac Newton
Opticks 1704
(old spelling of Optics)
– Used musical scale to
divide spectrum and
attach names to areas
– Physics (but
theological
implications)
 Interpretations of Colour
Theory by artists
• Goethe’s Theory of
Colours (1810)
• Built on wavelength
theory of light (after
Newton)
• Methods interesting
• Conclusion refuted
• Influential on artists
• Ex. Turner
• Colour theory weblink
Goethe’s Colour Wheel
 Research on Colour Theory &
Nomenclature (names) by scientists for
aesthetic ‘products’
• Michel Eugène Chevreul--
Chemist working in Gobelins
carpet factory
• Noticed optical mixing of two
adjacent colours
• De la loi du contrast
simultané des couleurs 1839
• Influential on artists
 Complementary Colours in art & design
• 19th c. theories of “Simultaneous Contrast” and optical mixing Ex.
Eugène Delacroix Women of Algiers
Detail
 Complementary Colours in art & design

• optical mixing
– Ex. Pointillism (neo-
expressionism)--Seurat
Seurat (details)
optical effects of
adjacent tonal values
or colours

link to stroboscopic
effects (complementary
colors seen as grey)
[Link]
ot_strob/[Link]
Colour Theory & Practical
Applications in Design

• Video Clip from The

Devil Wears Prada

Part of Pantone color swatch set with samples of color trends 
for designers (fall 2008)
[Link]
 Types of Colour
Theories
1. Subtractive Theory
• The subtractive, or
pigment theory deals
with how white light is
absorbed and reflected
off of coloured surfaces.
2. Additive Theory
• The Additive, or light
theory deals with
radiated and filtered
light.
Subtractive Theory
• Black absorbs most light
• White reflects most light
• Coloured Pigments absorb light and
reflect only the frequency of the pigment
colour.
• All colours other than the pigment colours
are absorbed so this is called subtractive
colour theory.
• The primary colours in Subtractive
Theory are:
– Cyan (C)
– Magenta ( M )
– Yellow (Y)
– Black (K)
• Subtractive or Pigment Theory is used in
printing and painting.
Additive Theory
• Black radiates no light
• White (sun) radiates all light
• Video is the process of capturing and
radiating light, therefore it uses Additive
(Light) Theory not Subtractive (Pigment)
Theory.
• The primary colours in Additive Theory
are:
– Red (R)
– Green (G)
– Blue (B)
• The primary colours add together to
make white
• Light Theory is also called Additive
Theory.
• Light Theory is used in Television, theater
lighting, computer monitors, and video
production.
The Visible Spectrum
 The Colour Wheel

If the ends of the spectrum are bent around a

colour wheel is formed:
The Colour Wheel
• Colours on the wheel
can be described
using three
parameters:
1. Hue: degrees from 0˚ to
360˚
2. Saturation: brightness
or dullness
3. Value: lightness or
darkness
(As suggested by Henry Albert Munsell in
A Colour Notation, 1905)
The Colour Wheel: Hue
• Hue or Spectral
Colour is represented
as an angle.
• Primary Colours:
• 0˚ = Red
• 120˚ = Green
• 240˚ = Blue
• Secondary Colours:
• 60˚ = Yellow
• 180˚ = Cyan
• 300˚ = Magenta
The Colour Wheel: Saturation
• Saturation or Chroma is
the intensity of a colour.
• A highly saturated colour
is bright and appears
closer to the edge of the
wheel.
• A more unsaturated
colour is dull.
• A colour with no
saturation is achromatic
or in the grey scale.
The Colour Wheel: Value
"the quality by which
we distinguish a light
colour from a dark
one."
- Albert Henry Munsell
A Colour Notation 1905

Value represents the

luminescent contrast value
between black and white
The Colour Wheel: Value
The Colour Wheel: Value
The Colour Wheel 3d
Three parameters to describe a colour: Hue
Chroma Value
Tone = Shade + Tint
MANY more scientific models based on different colour theory: (Example:
Colour Tree by American artist Henry Albert Munsell from
A Colour Notation, 1905.)
More Illustrations of the Munsell System

3D representation of the Munsell color model. One wedge of the Munsell color model.
The vertical axis represents value (or Chroma increases horizontally, and value
brightness) and ranges from 0 (black) to 10 vertically. Colors with a red border indicate
(white). Distance from the center represents paint colors that cannot accurately be
chroma (or saturation). Values start at 0 (gray) reproduced on an rgb monitor (approximated
and go to anywhere from 4 to 30, depending colors are shown). These diagrams only
on how saturated the color can get. The angle extend to a chroma value of 16 despite some
around the middle represents the hue (or colors extending well beyond this limit.
color).

Source: [Link]
 Scientific & Industry-specific Color
systems

• CIE (Commission
internationale
d’éclairage),
• and MANY others
 Using Color--
• blue in large regions, not thin lines
• red and green in the center of the
field of view (edges of retina not
sensitive to these)
• black, white, yellow in periphery
• Color Brewer
• Pantone
 Colour Schemes
Systematic ways of selecting colours

• Monochromatic
• Complimentary
• Analogous
• Warm
• Cool
• Achromatic
• Chromatic Grays
 Colour Schemes: Monochromatic

• Monochromatic:
Artist: Marc Chagall One Hue many values of
Title: Les Amants Sur Le Toit Tint and Shade
 Colour Schemes: Complementary
(note spelling--NOT complimentary)

Artist: Paul Cezanne • Complimentary: Colours

Title: La Montage Saint Victoire that are opposite on the
Year: 1886-88 wheel. High Contrast
Color for Categories and
Sequences
 Colour Schemes: Analogous

Artist: Vincent van Gogh • Analogous: A selection of

Title: The Iris colours that are adjacent.
Year: 1889 Minimal contrast
 Colour Schemes: Warm

Artist: Jan Vermeer Warm: First half of the wheel

Title: Girl Asleep at a Table give warmer colours. The
Year: 1657 colours of fire.
 Colour Schemes: Cool

Artist: Pablo Picasso Cool: Second half of the

Title: Femme Allongée Lisant
wheel gives cooler colours
Year: 1939
 Colour Schemes:
Achromatic, Chromatic Grays

Achromatic: Black and white Chromatic Grays: Also called

with all the grays in-between. neutral relief. Dull colours, low
contrast.
Colour Pickers & Choice of
Media

• HSB, HLS, HSV

• RGB
• CMYK
• Others
– Lab
– PANTONE

Munsell’s notation wheel

Colour Pickers: HSB, HLS,
HSV
• HSV
• Hue
• Saturation
• Value
• HSB (Same as HSV)
• Hue
• Saturation
• Brightness

• HLS
• Hue
• Lightness
• Saturation
Colour Pickers: RGB, CMYK
• RGB
• Red
• Green
• Blue
– Used in Video and Computer
graphics
– 3 Values in % or between
• 0-255

• CMYK
• Cyan
• Magenta
• Yellow
• K = Black
– Used for printing
Photoshop CS3 Picker
• Combines
HSB,
RGB,
CMYK,
Lab
(Luminance, Red/Green,
Yellow/Blue)
• Adobe
[Link]
 Colour Pickers: PANTONE

• Standard for printing/fastion industry

Color and the visual display of
information

Ware, p. 84
Colour (hue) and counting or
searching
 Hue

• Not Usually Pre-attentive

Hue & shape
 Region Search

Hue boundary identified Form boundary NOT

pre-attentively identified pre-attentively

Form variations do NOT Hue variations interfere

interfere with hue with form boundary
boundary identification identification
 Area Estimation
• Blue rectangles? Sloped rectangles?
Fill and Shape
Brightnesss
Shape again
Luminance/Contrast