Elements of Design: Color

Vocabulary Color Wheel- tool to use to understand the uses of color

Primary color- Natural colors Red, Yellow, and Blue

Secondary color- equal mixture of two primary colors Secondary color- equal mixture of two primary colors. Red + yellow= Yellow + blue = Red + blue=

Tertiary color- equal mixture of a primary color and secondary color.

Chroma- measure of brightness or dullness Value- brightness or darkness of a color

Tint- add white to make the color brighter, pink is a tint of red Tone- add gray to make a color dull; dusty rose is a tone of pink Shade- add black to make the color darker, burgundy is a shade of red

Color Harmonies- combinations of color that are pleasing to the eye Monochromatic- one hue with its tints, shades and tones. Example: red, pink, mauve burgundy

Analogous- three or more hues that are next to each other on the color wheel. Example: yellow-green, yellow and yellow orange Complementary- two colors opposite of each other on the color wheel Example: red and green

Split- complementary- any color with the two colors on each side of its complement Example: yellow with blue violet and red violet

Triadic- three colors that are equally spaced on the color wheel Triadic- three colors that are equally spaced on the color wheel. Example: yellow, red, blue Polychromatic- three or more unrelated colors, selected tints, shades and tones