Colour
“In the end, learning the language
of color is really about learning to
see.”
— Philip Ball, Bright Earth: Art
and the Invention of Color
• https://www.xrite.com/hue-test
Colour - Art and Education
•Colour Literacy
•Colour Theory
•Colour Harmonies
Colour Literacy -Cultivating Colour
Literacy
• 1. EXPERIENCING COLOURS
• 2. PERCEIVING COLOURS
• 3. DESCRIBING COLOURS
• 4. USING COLOURS
1. EXPERIENCING COLOURS
• Raise awareness of the fundamental role colour
plays in our lives.
• Connect colour to history and to social and cultural
relations.
• Open our eyes to the wonder and beauty of colours
in the world.
2. PERCEIVING COLOURS
• Focus on the interconnections between LIGHT,
OBJECTS, OBSERVERS and CONTEXTS.
• Integrate perception-based colour learning with a
STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art,
Design, and Math) framework.
3. DESCRIBING COLOURS
• Raise awareness of the many variations of colours.
• Expand colour vocabulary to include the three
dimensions of colour.
• Introduce basic colour specification systems.
4. USING COLOURS
• Introduce colour experiments and explorations
. before explanations.
• Focus on developing problem solving and
investigative know-how.
• Build bridges between science, art and design
Colour Literacy Foundations
• Colour is an integral part of our everyday
experiences, and it enhances the richness of
our lives. The topic of colour is complex, and
our knowledge is constantly evolving.
Experiencing Colour
• COLOUR IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF OUR LIVES
• COLOUR IMPACTS US IN COMPLEX WAYS
PERCEIVING COLOURS
• COLOUR IS A PERCEPTION
• COLOUR IS CONTEXTUAL
• LIGHT IS KEY FOR US TO SEE COLOUR.
• PEOPLE WHO ARE COLOUR BLIND CAN SEE COLOURS - JUST NOT AS
MANY
• SOME PEOPLE WITH SYNESTHESIA CAN EXPERIENCE COLOURS
THROUGH OTHER SENSES
Describing Colours
• COLOURS CAN BE DESCRIBED BY
MORE THAN JUST HUE
• COLOURS CAN BE ARRANGED 3-
DIMENSIONALLY
• NAMING COLOURS
USING COLOURS
• YOU CAN’T MIX COLOURS - but you can mix paints - or other
coloured media. Colours are perceptions, and can’t be mixed but
colorants or coloured media can.
• COLOUR IS IMPACTED BY THE DEVICES WE USE
Misconceptions
Misconceptions related to Experiencing Colours
• COLOURS HAVE UNIVERSAL SYMBOLIC MEANINGS
• PEOPLE WHO ARE COLOUR BLIND SEE THE WORLD IN BLACK AND
WHITE
• MAGENTA IS NOT A ‘REAL’ COLOUR
• LIGHT RAYS (OR THEIR WAVELENGTHS) ARE COLOURED
• YELLOW OBJECTS REFLECT ONLY YELLOW WAVELENGTHS TO OUR
EYES
Misconceptions related to Perceiving Colours
• PEOPLE WHO ARE COLOUR BLIND SEE THE WORLD IN BLACK AND
WHITE
• MAGENTA IS NOT A ‘REAL’ COLOUR
• LIGHT RAYS (OR THEIR WAVELENGTHS) ARE COLOURED
• YELLOW OBJECTS REFLECT ONLY YELLOW WAVELENGTHS TO OUR
EYES
Misconceptions related to Describing Colours
• COLOUR AND HUE MEAN THE SAME THING
• BLACK AND WHITE AND GREY ARE NOT COLOURS
• THE RAINBOW (OR SPECTRUM) CONTAINS ALL THE COLOURS WE
CAN SEE.
• THE SPECTRUM IS DIVIDED INTO ONLY 7 COLOURS
Misconceptions related to Using Colours
• ALL COLOURS CAN BE MIXED FROM A ‘PRIMARY’ SET OF THREE
• THERE ARE SIMPLE RULES THAT GUARANTEE COLOUR HARMONY
• GREEN PAINTS MADE BY MIXING ‘CONTAIN’ YELLOW AND BLUE
Basic Colour Attributes
• Words that we can use to completely describe how colours appear.
• HUE = THE PARENT COLOUR ASSOCIATED WITH THE COLOUR WHEEL
• VALUE = LIGHTNESS OR DARKNESS
• INTENSITY/SATURATION/CHROMA = BRIGHTNESS OR
COLOURFULNESS
Hue Family
Character
Characters within a single hue family
Character examples from several hue families.
Colour Wheels
There are at least 13 colour
theorist and probably as
many colour wheels. Eg.
Hue circle from the NCS
colour system.
Johannes Itten’s Colour Wheel
Value
Tints
Tones and
Shades
Intensity, Saturation, Chroma
Colour Relativity
8 Design Colour Schemes (Colour Harmonies)
• Monochromatic – Single hue, black and white
• Achromatic – Black and White
• Analogous – A Family of hues connected by same parents
• Complementary - two colors directly across from each other on the
color wheel and relevant tints of those colors
• Split Complementary - split complementary scheme includes one
dominant color and the two colors directly adjacent to the dominant
color's complement.
• Triadic - Triadic color schemes are created by choosing three colors
that are equally placed in lines around the color wheel.
• Square - four colors equidistant from each other on the color wheel
to create a square or diamond shape.
• Tetrad - tetradic color scheme, the rectangle approach is similar to its
square counterpart but offers a more subtle approach to color
selection
• https://thevirtualinstructor.com/members/interactive-color-wheel
• https://www.canva.com/colors/color-wheel/
• https://www.xrite.com/hue-test
• This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial 4.0 International LicenseCOPYRIGHT © 2023
• Copyright © 2023 Colour Literacy Project
• Color By Betty Edwards Jeremy P.Tarcher/Penguin
• Color And Culture -John Gage
• Basic Visual Concepts And Principles For Artusts, Architects And
Designers – Wallschlaeger And Busic - Snyder
