Welcome to week 31 of p52.2 : Framed. This week we start our month-long study of color. An artist’s color wheel is the basic tool for combining colors to design pleasing color combinations. Sir Isaac Newton is credited with designing the first circular color diagram. The circle of colors starts with the primary colors of red, yellow and blue placed an equidistant from each other and is bridged by secondary and tertiary colors. Secondary colors (green, orange, purple) are a combination of two primary colors. Tertiary colors (blue-green, yellow-orange, etc.) are a combination of a primary or secondary colors. Color theory is complex and includes the study of color and its affect on our mood and feelings. We are going to have a lot of fun playing with color this month! We begin this week by playing with analogous and monochrome color combinations.
Analogous colors are adjacent to each other on the color wheel. They are often found in nature and are harmonious and pleasing to the eye. Red-Orange-Yellow combinations are considered warm colors. They are often vivid and energetic and tend to advance in a photograph. Green-Blue-Violet combinations are cool colors and are considered peaceful and calming. Who hasn’t been soothed by looking at an ocean or forest scene?
Monochrome schemes consist of a single color or hue with variation in tint, tone and shade. We can alter the hue, saturation and luminance by adding black, white and gray to the single color. The color can also be neutralized by adding its complement to lower the intensity of the color. A monochrome scheme includes all forms of black and white photography.
Our year-long collaborative blog project is dedicated to composition and artistry. Please click HERE to see all of our interpretations for the week. The gallery mosaic is randomly sorted every time you load the page, so please refresh the page in your browser to see a different view. Please click on the individual images to see a larger version on the artist’s website and, in some cases, a series of related images.
Here is another link to color wheel information from NYU.