ART 111 - COLOR and DESIGN

INTRO. TERMINOLOGY I

ADDITIVE COLOR - color made by light.  The three primaries are RED, BLUE, GREEN.  The combination of all colors result in WHITE light.  Whenever the colors are mixed, this ADDS to the total light rays, and the combination color is LIGHTER in value.

SUBTRACTIVE COLOR -  color mixed with pigments.  The three primaries are RED, BLUE, and YELLOW.  In subtractive color, when pigments are mixed, each color SUBTRACTS from the total light rays, and the combination color is DARKER in value.  All hues combined equal BLACK.

PARTITIVE COLOR MIX(aka OPTICAL MIX) - small dots or patches of colors are placed adjacent to each other, and from a distance, the eye mixes them to form a new color.  Used by Pointillists(post-Impressionism). Results in higher luminosity than subtractive mixing.

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HUE - basic name for a color(e.g. red, blue, orange, etc.).  Denotes the position on the           color wheel/light spectrum.

VALUE - degree of darkness (or lightness) of a given hue

INTENSITY - aka SATURATION, CHROMA.  The degree of purity of a hue, it’s freedom from white black, or the dulling agent of a complementary color.

PRIMARY HUES - colors that cannot be mixed, but are the basis for all other colors

SECONDARY HUES - colors made by mixing the primaries

TERTIARY HUES - colors made by mixing a primary with a secondary

TINT -  hue plus white

SHADE - hue plus black

TONE - hue plus gray

CONES - special cells in the retina at the back of the eye which enable us to distinguish hues in the daylight.

RODS - light sensitive cells in the eye that operate in dim light to distinguish VALUES

COLOR CONSTANCY - the psychological tendency to see colors as we THINK they are

rather than as we actually perceive them.