Colour Theory (Part 2)

Subjective Colour

Spectral colour is not a physical thing. It is evoked by a single wavelength (when it is reflected off a surface).

Chromatic Value = hue + tone = saturation

Johannes Itten came up with a series of 7 contrasts (describe problems we can face when working with colour) (cumulative contrasts):

1. Contrast of Tone - Monochromatic - differentiation (the purest form of this is our rods working out if something is light or dark)
2. Contrast of Hue - Not just if it is light or dark but what colour it is - what colour you recognise a set of wavelengths as (cone cells) - some colours jump forward more than others because of their hue (i.e. yellow comes forward on black and goes back on white)
3. Contrast in Saturation - how much hue a colour has (how bright a colour is)
4. Contrast of Extension - the amount of a certain colour on a colour fiend and how that reacts with the rest of the colour.. ?? - optical balance (balancing colour and using it as a device to draw focus to certain elements of the image - i.e making focus light bright colour in a pool of dark colours so it comes forward
5. Contrast of Temperature - the psychologically warmer colours - reds, orange. cooler colours - blues and greens. (when you look at cold to warm swatches optical mixing happens. - gradients appear that don't exist
6. Complementary Contrast - formed by sitting complementaries next to each other - make each other appear brighter - becomes really difficult to look at because it is so bright
7. Simultaneous Contrast - when all of these things are happening - when one colour changes how another looks - huge contrast - both are impossible to look at. 

Before this lecture I thought that complementaries looked really good together and I have now learned that they are unharmonious and just difficult to look at together. The only way to use them harmoniously is if they are muted versions of the primaries or if one is just an accent colour.