Colour Theory

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Hue: the name of a colour Value: the relative lightness or darkness of a colour sample; black the lowest white the highest, value is linear. Tint and Shade: colours that are not at full saturation and have been diluted with either black or white. The tint is lighter or added white. The hue is more reflective of light. Shade is darker or added black. The hue has reduced reflective qualities and absorbs light. Saturation & Chroma; the hue- intensity or brilliance of a sample, its dullness or vividness These are implicit in all colours – its discriptive sense - where is my dark red shirt? Complementary: – Colours that are opposite to one another on the colour wheel. Mono chromatic: a single hue or colour. When it is illustrated in tints and shades it is called a chromatic scale. Primary: Red, yellow, blue – they are the simplest hues. They can not be broken down visually into other colours. They also have no other colours in common. All other colours on the spectrum are mixed from the primaries. Red, yellow and blue are known as primary colours They are absolute meaning they can not be obtained by any mixing Secondary: A secondary is an interval between the primaries. They are green, orange and violet. Each is visual midpoint between their two primaries. Each secondary colour has a primary colour in common. Orange and violet each contain red. Their complementary hue is the opposing primary colour that does not make up the mix of the secondary colour – yellow/violet.

Tertiary: Are chromatic neutrals, a sort of colour soup and a mix of two secondaries. It appears as a range of browns and is limitless. Tertiary's are also considered to be the colours between the pure secondary colours.

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