Color Concepts
Color is nothing but reflected light of a particular wavelength or frequency. It is produced when light strikes on an object
and it reflects back to the eye.
Color is also an essential part of Art and Design. As color is capable of creating visual sensation and evokes emotions,
it becomes a very important tool for expression and medium for communication. Colors are used to express feelings
like calmness or excitement, boldness or passiveness, sad or joyous, masculine or feminine, mature or childish, etc.
Color Wheel is a combination of Primary Colors, Secondary Colors and Tertiary Colors. All the 12 colors in the color
wheel can be obtained from the Primary colors.
(Hint: Incase remembering all the 12 colors seems difficult, just remember the 3 primary colors and derive the rest 9
colors from it)
THE COLOR WHEEL
Primary Colors:
The three primary colors are the colors we need to make the other colors.
They are the foundation of the color wheel. All other colors are mixed from
them.
The three colors are Red, Blue and Yellow.
Secondary Colors:
The three secondary colors are Purple, Green and Orange. They are derived
from the primary colors.
Red + Blue = Purple
Blue + Yellow = Green
Red + Yellow = Orange
Tertiary Colors:
The six tertiary colors are derived from Primary and the Secondary Colors.
They are called the ‘two-name’ colors.
Yellow-Orange
Red-Orange
Red-Purple
Blue-Purple
Blue-Green
Yellow-Green
The Color Terms
Hue:
A ‘Hue’ is different from a ‘Color’ though both terms are used as synonyms. A color can have a mixture of black or
white in it, but a hue is a pure color without any addition of black or white. For example if Red + White = Pink, here Pink
and Red are both Colors whereas only Red is a Hue. All the colors on the color wheel are hues. Hues are intense,
bright, cheery and untainted colors. These are the colors of children’s toys, daycare decor and the summer clothes.
Tints:
Tints are created when you add white to any hue on the color wheel. This will lighten and desaturate the hue, making it
less intense. Tints are often referred to as pastel colors, and many feel they are calmer, quieter colors.
Warm Colors: Cool Colors:
The Warm colors are six colors in the color wheel made The Cool colors are the six colors in the color wheel
with orange, red, yellow and combinations of these and made with blue, green and light purple. They can calm
similar colors. As the name indicates, they tend to make and soothe. Where warm colors remind us of heat and
you think of warm things, such as sunlight and heat. sunshine, cool colors remind us of water and sky, even
Visually, warm colors look as though they come closer, ice and snow. Unlike warm colors, cool colors look as
or advance (as do dark colors), which is why they’re though they recede, making them great for small rooms
often used to make large rooms seem cozier. If you you want to appear larger. If you have a tiny bedroom or
have a huge bedroom that you want to look more powder room that you want to enlarge visually, try
intimate, try painting it a warm color such as terracotta painting a color such as light blue to make it seem more
or brown to make it feel cozier. spacious.
The Color Schemes
Meanings of a few colors:
Colour Concepts
Exercises
Q 1. Pick any three colours and complete the following.
Q 2. Using appropriate colours to evoke mentioned emotions.
1. Friendly 2. Danger
Q 3. With the grid provided depict any ONE word in each grid using colour concepts.
Words: Monsoon, Jungle, Meditation, Joy, Travel, Festival
Word: ___________________ Word: ___________________
Q 4. Draw the following, in 3 stages. (Attempt any one)
a. Stages of growth of banana.
b. Stages of decay of an Apple.
:_________________________________
:_________________________________
:_________________________________
Q 5. Depict graphically using colors, the following, one word in one box:
Car crash, clock alarm, Spicy food, Roller coaster ride.
:_________________________________ :_________________________________
:_________________________________ :_________________________________
Homework
Q 1. Keeping the colour psychology in mind, colour the interior space given below
such that Fig.A should feel like room of a Hot-headed person, Fig.B should feel like
room of a shy person.
Fig. A
Fig. B
Q 2. Using any colour scheme of your choice colour the given figure.
Scheme: ______________________ Scheme: ______________________
Q 3. Depict graphically using colours, any 2 of the following words:
Sound of an Air plane, Traffic jam, monsoon, birth.
:_________________________________ :_________________________________
