Color theory: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 14:57, 16 April 2025

Latest revision as of 15:56, 16 July 2025

(17 intermediate revisions by 9 users not shown)

Line 1:

{{Short description|Principles to describe the practical behavior of colors}}

{{Distinguish|colorimetry}}

{{otherOther uses}}

{{Use American English|date=August 2016}}

[[File:GoetheFarbkreis.jpg|right|thumb|[[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe]]'s color wheel from his 1810 ''[[Theory of Colours]]'']]

'''Color theory''', or more specifically '''traditional color theory''', is a historical body of knowledge describing the behavior of colors, namely in [[color mixing]], [[color contrast]] effects, [[color harmony]], [[color scheme]]s and [[color symbolism]].<ref name="Handprint1">{{cite web |last1=MacEvoy |first1=Bruce |title=Color Theory |url=https://handprint.com/HP/WCL/wcolor.html |website=Handprint |access-date=8 February 2024}}</ref> Modern color theory is generally referred to as [[color science]]. While there is no clear distinction in scope, traditional color theory tends to be more subjective and have artistic applications, while color science tends to be more objective and have functional applications, such as in chemistry, astronomy or [[color reproduction]]. Color theory dates back at least as far as [[Aristotle]]'s treatise ''[[On Colors]]'' and [[Bharata_Bharata (sage)|Bharata's]]'s [[Natya_Shastra|''Nāṭya Shāstra'']]. A formalization of "color theory" began in the 18th century, initially within a partisan controversy over [[Isaac Newton]]'s theory of color (''[[Opticks]]'', 1704) and the nature of primary colors. By the end of the 19th century, a schism had formed between traditional color theory and color science.

[[File:GoetheFarbkreis.jpg|right|thumb|[[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe]]'s color wheel from his 1810 ''[[Theory of Colours]]'']]

'''Color theory''', or more specifically '''traditional color theory''', is a historical body of knowledge describing the behavior of colors, namely in [[color mixing]], [[color contrast]] effects, [[color harmony]], [[color scheme]]s and [[color symbolism]].<ref name="Handprint1">{{cite web |last1=MacEvoy |first1=Bruce |title=Color Theory |url=https://handprint.com/HP/WCL/wcolor.html |website=Handprint |access-date=8 February 2024}}</ref> Modern color theory is generally referred to as [[color science]]. While there is no clear distinction in scope, traditional color theory tends to be more subjective and have artistic applications, while color science tends to be more objective and have functional applications, such as in chemistry, astronomy or [[color reproduction]]. Color theory dates back at least as far as [[Aristotle]]'s treatise ''[[On Colors]]'' and [[Bharata_(sage)|Bharata's]] [[Natya_Shastra|Nāṭya Shāstra]]. A formalization of "color theory" began in the 18th century, initially within a partisan controversy over [[Isaac Newton]]'s theory of color (''[[Opticks]]'', 1704) and the nature of primary colors. By the end of the 19th century, a schism had formed between traditional color theory and color science.

== History ==

Color theory is rooted in antiquity, with early musings on color in [[Aristotle]]'s (d. 322 BCE) ''[[On Colors]]'' and [[Claudius Ptolemy]]'s (d. 168 CE) ''[[Optics (Ptolemy)|Optics]]''. The [[Natya_Shastra|''Nāṭya Shāstra'']] (d. 200 BCE) composed in [[Ancient India]], had an early, functional theory of color ,<ref name="Natyashastra">{{cite web |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/the-natyashastra/d/doc210153.html |title=Chapter XXIII - 'Costumes and Make-up' |last=Shastri |first=Babulal |publisher=Motilal Banarasidass |date=April 16, 2025 |website=Wisdomlib |access-date=April 16, 2025}}</ref>, considering four colours as primary, [[black]], [[blue]], [[yellow]] and [[red]]. It also describes the production of derived colors from [[Primary_color|primary colors]].

Color theory is rooted in antiquity, with early musings on color in [[Aristotle]]'s (d. 322 BCE) ''[[On Colors]]'' and [[Claudius Ptolemy]]'s (d. 168 CE) ''[[Optics (Ptolemy)|Optics]]''. The [[Natya_Shastra|Nāṭya Shāstra]] had an early, functional theory of color <ref name="Natyashastra">{{cite web |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/the-natyashastra/d/doc210153.html |title=Chapter XXIII - Costumes and Make-up |last=Shastri |first=Babulal |publisher=Motilal Banarasidass |date=April 16, 2025 |website=Wisdomlib |access-date=April 16, 2025}}</ref>, considering four colours as primary, [[black]], [[blue]], [[yellow]] and [[red]]. It also describes the production of derived colors from [[Primary_color|primary colors]].

{{Quote box

|quote = The bluish white (kāraṇḍava) colour, is made up of of the white and the blue, and the yellowish white colour (pāṇḍu) of the white and the yellow. The lotus (padma) colour is made up of the white and the red, and the green (harit) colour, of the yellow and the blue. The dark red (kāṣāya) colour is made up of the blue and the red, and the pale-red (gaura) colour of the red and the yellow. These are the derivative colours. Besides these there are [many] minor colours which may be made up of three or four [original] colours.

|author = [[Bharata_(sage)|Bharata]]

|source = ''[[Natya_Shastra|Nāṭya Shāstra]]'', Chapter XXIII - "Costumes and Make-up".

}}

The influence of light on color was investigated and revealed further by [[al-Kindi]] (d. 873) and [[Ibn al-Haytham]] (d. 1039). [[Ibn Sina]] (d. 1037), [[Nasir al-Din al-Tusi]] (d. 1274), and [[Robert Grosseteste]] (d. 1253) discovered that contrary to the teachings of Aristotle, there are multiple color paths to get from black to white.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Smithson |first1=H.E. |last2=Dinkova-Bruun |first2=G. |last3=Gasper |first3=G.E.M. |last4=Huxtable |first4=M. |last5=McLeish |first5=T.C.B. |last6=Panti |first6=C.P. |title=A three-dimensional color space from the 13th century |journal=J. Opt. Soc. Am. A |date=2012 |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=A346–A352 |doi=10.1364/josaa.29.00A346|pmid=22330399 |pmc=3287286 |bibcode=2012JOSAA..29A.346S }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kirchner |first1=E. |title=Color theory and color order in medieval Islam: A review |journal=Color Research & Application |date=2013 |volume=40 |issue=1 |pages=5–16 |doi=10.1002/col.21861}}</ref> More modern approaches to color theory principles can be found in the writings of [[Leone Battista Alberti]] (c. 1435) and the notebooks of [[Leonardo da Vinci]] (c. 1490).[[File:Color diagram Charles Hayter.jpg|thumb|Page from 1826 ''A New Practical Treatise on the Three Primitive Colours Assumed as a Perfect System of Rudimentary Information'' by [[Charles Hayter]]]]

[[Isaac Newton]] (d. 1727) worked extensively on color theory, helping and developing his own theory from stating the fact that white light is composed of a spectrum of colors, and that color is not intrinsic to objects, but rather arises from the way an object reflects or absorbs different wavelengths. His 1672 paper on the nature of white light and colours forms the basis for all work that followed on colour and colour vision.<ref>{{Citation |last=Marriott |first=F.H.C. |titledate=Colour Vision: Introduction2014 |dateorig-year=1962 (print) |worktitle=TheColour VisualVision: Process |pages=219–229Introduction |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/B9781483230894500212 |access-datework=2025-03-02The Visual Process |publisher=Elsevier |languagepages=en219–229 |doi=10.1016/b978-1-4832-3089-4.50021-2 |isbn=978-1-4832-3089-4 |access-date=2025-03-02 |language=en|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The RYB primary colors became the foundation of 18th-century theories of [[color vision]],{{Citation needed|date=September 2018}} as the fundamental sensory qualities that are blended in the perception of all physical colors, and conversely, in the physical mixture of [[pigment]]s or [[dye]]s. These theories were enhanced by 18th-century investigations of a variety of purely psychological color effects, in particular the contrast between "complementary" or opposing hues that are produced by color afterimages and in the contrasting shadows in colored light. These ideas and many personal color observations were summarized in two founding documents in color theory: the ''[[Theory of Colours]]'' (1810) by the German poet [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]], and ''The Law of Simultaneous Color Contrast'' (1839) by the French industrial chemist [[Michel Eugène Chevreul]]. [[Charles Hayter]] published ''A New Practical Treatise on the Three Primitive Colours Assumed as a Perfect System of Rudimentary Information'' (London 1826), in which he described how all colors could be obtained from just three.

Line 26 ⟶ 24:

Subsequently, German and English scientists established in the late 19th century that color perception is best described in terms of a different set of primary colors—red, green and blue-violet ([[RGB color model|RGB]])—modeled through the additive mixture of three monochromatic lights. Subsequent research anchored these primary colors in the differing responses to light by three types of [[Cone cell|color receptors]] or ''cones'' in the [[retina]] ([[trichromacy]]). On this basis the quantitative description of the color mixture or colorimetry developed in the early 20th century, along with a series of increasingly sophisticated models of [[color space]] and color perception, such as the [[opponent process]] theory.

[[File:Munsell-system.svg|thumb|left|[[Munsell color system|Munsell]]'s 1905 color system represents colors using three color-making attributes, ''value'' (lightness), ''chroma'' (saturation), and ''hue''.|left]]

Across the same period, industrial chemistry radically expanded the color range of lightfast synthetic pigments, allowing for substantially improved saturation in color mixtures of dyes, paints, and inks. It also created the dyes and chemical processes necessary for color photography. As a result, three-color printing became aesthetically and economically feasible in mass printed media, and the artists' color theory was adapted to primary colors most effective in inks or photographic dyes: cyan, magenta, and yellow (CMY). (In printing, dark colors are supplemented by black ink, called "key," to make the [[CMYK]] system; in both printing and photography, white is provided by the color of the paper.) These CMY primary colors were reconciled with the RGB primaries, and subtractive color mixing with additive color mixing, by defining the CMY primaries as substances that ''absorbed'' only one of the retinal primary colors: cyan absorbs only red (−R+G+B), magenta only green (+R−G+B), and yellow only blue-violet (+R+G−B). It is important to add that the CMYK, or process, color printing is meant as an economical way of producing a wide range of colors for printing, but is deficient in reproducing certain colors, notably orange and slightly deficient in reproducing purples. A wider range of colors can be obtained with the addition of other colors to the printing process, such as in [[Pantone]]'s [[Hexachrome]] printing ink system (six colors), among others.

Line 33 ⟶ 31:

== Color mixing ==

{{mainMain|Color mixing}}

{{multipleMultiple image

| align = right

| image1 = AdditiveColor.svg

Line 45 ⟶ 44:

| footer =

}}

{{main|Color mixing}}

One of the earliest purposes of color theory was to establish rules governing the mixing of pigments.

Traditional color theory was built around "pure" or ideal colors, characterized by different sensory experiences rather than attributes of the physical world. This has led to several inaccuracies in traditional color theory principles that are not always remedied in modern formulations.<ref>{{Cite web|title=handprint : colormaking attributes|url=https://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/color6.html|access-date=2021-07-31|website=www.handprint.com}}</ref> Another issue has been the tendency to describe color effects holistically or categorically, for example as a contrast between "yellow" and "blue" conceived as generic colors instead of the three color attributes generally considered by color science: [[hue]], [[colorfulness]] and [[lightness]]. These confusions are partly historical and arose in scientific uncertainty about color perception that was not resolved until the late 19th century when artistic notions were already entrenched. They also arise from the attempt to describe the highly contextual and flexible behavior of color perception in terms of abstract color sensations that can be generated equivalently by any [[visual media]].{{citationCitation needed|date=September 2022}}

=== Primary colors ===

{{mainMain|Primary color}}

[[File:Color star-en (tertiary names).svg|thumb|Primary, secondary, and tertiary colors of the [[RYB color model]]]]

{{main|Primary color}}

Color theory asserts three pure primary colors that can be used to mix all possible colors. These are sometimes considered as red, yellow and blue ([[RYB color model|RYB]]) or as red, green and blue ([[RGB color model|RGB]]).{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}} Ostensibly, any failure of specific [[paint]]s or [[ink]]s to match this ideal performance is due to the impurity or imperfection of the colorants. In contrast, modern color science does not recognize universal primary colors (no finite combination of colors can produce all other colors) and only uses primary colors to define a given [[color space]].<ref name="Handprint1"/> Any three primary colors can mix only a limited range of colors, called a [[gamut]], which is always smaller (contains fewer colors) than the full range of colors humans can perceive.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Traditional and Modern Colour Theory Part 1: Modern Colour Theory|url=http://www.huevaluechroma.com/112.php|access-date=2021-10-15|language=en-AU}}</ref> Primary colors also can't be made from other colors as they are inherently pure and distinct.<ref>{{Cite web|title=3 Basic Primary Colors {{!}} Additive and Subtractive Color Mixing|url=https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/primary-colors/|date=February 28, 2024 |access-date=2025-01-10|language=en-USA}}</ref>

=== Complementary colors ===

[[File:Chevreul's RYB chromatic diagram.png|upright=1.35|thumb|[[Michel Eugène Chevreul|Chevreul]]'s 1855 "chromatic diagram" based on the [[RYB color model]], showing [[complementary colors]] and other relationships]]

{{Main|Complementary colors}}

[[File:Chevreul's RYB chromatic diagram.png|upright=1.35|thumb|[[Michel Eugène Chevreul|Chevreul]]'s 1855 "chromatic diagram" based on the [[RYB color model]], showing [[complementary colors]] and other relationships]]

For the mixing of colored light, [[Isaac Newton]]'s [[color wheel]] is often used to describe complementary colors, which are colors that cancel each other's hue to produce an achromatic (white, gray or black) light mixture. Newton offered as a conjecture that colors exactly opposite one another on the hue circle cancel out each other's hue; this concept was demonstrated more thoroughly in the 19th century. An example of [[complementary colors]] would be magenta and green.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}

Line 79 ⟶ 77:

=== Split primary palette ===

The split-primary palette is a color-wheel model that relies on misconceptions to attempt to explain the unsatisfactory results produced when mixing the traditional primary colors, red, yellow, and blue.

Line 88 ⟶ 85:

Although flawed in principle,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lucariello |first1=Joan |last2=Naff |first2=David |title=How Do I Get My Students Over Their Alternative Conceptions (Misconceptions) for Learning? Applications of Psychological Science to Teaching and Learning modules |url=https://www.apa.org/education-career/k12/misconceptions |website=APA.org |publisher=American Psychological Association |access-date=12 August 2024}}</ref> the split-primary system can be successful in practice, because the recommended blue-biased red and green-biased blue positions are often filled by near approximations of magenta and cyan, respectively, while orange-biased red and violet-biased blue serve as secondary colors, tending to further widen the mixable gamut.

This system is in effect a simplified version of Newton's geometrical rule that colors closer together on the hue circle will produce more vibrant mixtures. A mixture produced from two primary colors, however, will be much more highly saturated than one produced from two secondary colors, even though the pairs are the same distance apart on the hue circle, revealing the limitations of the circular model in the prediction of color-mixing results. For example, a mixture of magenta and cyan inks or paints will produce vivid blues and violets, whereas a mixture of red and blue inks or paints will produce darkened violets and purples, even though the angular distance separating magenta and cyan is the same as that separating red and blue.

== Color contrast ==

{{seeSee also|color contrast}}

In [[Michel Eugène Chevreul|Chevreul's]]'s 1839 book ''The principles of harmony and contrast of colours'',<ref name=Chevreul>{{cite book |last1=Chevreul |first1=Michel Eugène |title=De la loi du contraste simultané des couleurs |date=1839}}</ref> he introduced the law of color contrast, stating that colors that appear together (spatially or temporally) will be altered as if mixed with the complementary color of the other color, functionally boosting the color contrast between them. For example, a piece of yellow fabric placed on a blue background will appear tinted orange because orange is the complementary color to blue. Chevreul formalized three types of contrast:<ref name=Chevreul/>

* ''simultaneous contrast'', which appears in two colors viewed side by side,

* ''successive contrast'', for the [[afterimage]] left on an achromatic background after viewing a color, and

* ''mixedsimultaneous contrast'', forwhich theappears afterimagein lefttwo oncolors anotherviewed color.side by side

* ''successive contrast'', for the [[afterimage]] left on an achromatic background after viewing a color, and

* ''mixed contrast'', for the afterimage left on another color

=== Warm vs. cool colors <span class="anchor" id="Warm vs. cool colours"></span>===

The distinction between "warm" and "cool" colors has been important since at least the late 18th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/color12.html |title=color temperature |publisher=handprint |date=2009-04-19 |access-date=2011-06-09}}</ref> The difference (as traced by etymologies in the [[Oxford English Dictionary|''Oxford English Dictionary'']]), seems related to the observed contrast in landscape light, between the "warm" colors associated with daylight or sunset, and the "cool" colors associated with a gray or overcast day. Warm colors are often said to be hues from red through yellow, browns, and tans included; cool colors are often said to be the hues from blue-green through blue violet, most grays included. There is a historical disagreement about the colors that anchor the polarity, but 19th-century sources put the peak contrast between red-orange and greenish-blue.{{NoteTag|The traditional warm/cool association of a color is reversed relative to the [[color temperature]] of a theoretical radiating [[black body]]; the hottest [[star]]s radiate blue (cool) light, and the coolest radiate red (warm) light.}}

Color theory has described perceptual and psychological effects to this contrast. Warm colors are said to advance or appear more active in a painting, while cool colors tend to recede; used in interior design or fashion, warm colors are said to arouse or stimulate the viewer, while cool colors calm and relax.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Singh|first=Satyendra|date=2006-01-01|title=Impact of color on marketing|url=https://doi.org/10.1108/00251740610673332|journal=Management Decision|volume=44|issue=6|pages=783–789|doi=10.1108/00251740610673332|issn=0025-1747|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Most of these effects, to the extent they are real, can be attributed to the higher saturation and lighter value of warm pigments in contrast to cool pigments; brown is a dark, unsaturated warm color that few people think of as visually active or psychologically arousing.

The distinction between "warm" and "cool" colors has been important since at least the late 18th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/color12.html |title=color temperature |publisher=handprint |date=2009-04-19 |access-date=2011-06-09}}</ref> The difference (as traced by etymologies in the [[Oxford English Dictionary]]), seems related to the observed contrast in landscape light, between the "warm" colors associated with daylight or sunset, and the "cool" colors associated with a gray or overcast day. Warm colors are often said to be hues from red through yellow, browns, and tans included; cool colors are often said to be the hues from blue-green through blue violet, most grays included. There is a historical disagreement about the colors that anchor the polarity, but 19th-century sources put the peak contrast between red-orange and greenish-blue.{{NoteTag|The traditional warm/cool association of a color is reversed relative to the [[color temperature]] of a theoretical radiating [[black body]]; the hottest [[star]]s radiate blue (cool) light, and the coolest radiate red (warm) light.}}

Color theory has described perceptual and psychological effects to this contrast. Warm colors are said to advance or appear more active in a painting, while cool colors tend to recede; used in interior design or fashion, warm colors are said to arouse or stimulate the viewer, while cool colors calm and relax.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Singh|first=Satyendra|date=2006-01-01|title=Impact of color on marketing|url=https://doi.org/10.1108/00251740610673332|journal=Management Decision|volume=44|issue=6|pages=783–789|doi=10.1108/00251740610673332|issn=0025-1747}}</ref> Most of these effects, to the extent they are real, can be attributed to the higher saturation and lighter value of warm pigments in contrast to cool pigments; brown is a dark, unsaturated warm color that few people think of as visually active or psychologically arousing.

== Color harmony and color schemes ==

Line 125 ⟶ 123:

== Color symbolism ==

{{mainMain|Color symbolism}}

A major underpinning of traditional color theory is that colors carry significant cultural symbolism, or even have immutable, universal meaning. As early as the ancient Greek philosophers, many theorists have devised color associations and linked particular connotative meanings to specific colors.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Benson|first=J. L. |date=2000 |title=Greek Color Theory and the Four Elements |url=https://scholarworks.umass.edu/art_jbgc/1 |language=en}} Full text, not including figures.</ref> However, connotative color associations and color symbolism tends to be culture-bound and may also vary across different contexts and circumstances. For example, red has many different connotative and symbolic meanings from exciting, arousing, sensual, romantic, and feminine; to a symbol of good luck; and also acts as a signal of danger. Such color associations tend to be learned and do not necessarily hold irrespective of individual and cultural differences or contextual, temporal or perceptual factors.<ref>{{cite book|title=If it's Purple, Someone's Gonna Die|first=Patti|last=Bellantoni|publisher=[[Elsevier]], [[Focal Press]]|year=2005|isbn=0-240-80688-3}}</ref> It is important to note that while color symbolism and color associations exist, their existence does not provide evidential support for [[color psychology]] or claims that color has therapeutic properties.<ref>O'Connor, Z. (2010). "Colour psychology and color therapy: Caveat emptor". ''Color Research and Application''</ref>

==See also==

{{div col}}

* {{annotatedAnnotated link|Charles Albert Keeley}}

* {{annotatedAnnotated link|Color analysis}}

* {{annotatedAnnotated link|Color mixing}}

* {{annotatedAnnotated link|Color science}}

* {{annotatedAnnotated link|Color wheel}}

* ''{{annotatedAnnotated link|On Vision and Colors}}''

* {{annotatedAnnotated link|Subtractive color}}

* {{annotatedAnnotated link|Visible spectrum}}

{{div col end}}

Line 156 ⟶ 155:

}}

* [https://www.coursera.org/lecture/graphic-elements-design/understanding-color-theory-1SYDS Understanding Color Theory by University of Colorado Boulder – Coursera]

* [http://handprint.com/HP/WCL/wcolor.html Handprint.com: Color] – aA comprehensive site about color perception, color psychology, color theory, and color mixing

* [http://www.huevaluechroma.com/ The Dimensions of Colour] – colorColor theory for artists using digital/traditional media

{{Appearance phenomena}}