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How are colours classified? What is a saturated colour? Here is an explanation of the chromatic circle and definitions of colour terms such as you have never had before! |
Primary colours: Primary colours - red , yellow and blue - may not be created by mixing other colours. On the contrary, they are mixed with one another to produce other colours. In printing and plastic arts, magenta (a pinkish red), yellow and cyan (a blue) are used as primary colours because they are better suited to mixing, and yield better balanced secondary colours. A mixture of the three primary colours produces black.
Secondary colours: They result from the mixing of two of the primary colours. Red (magenta) and yellow produce orange, yellow and blue (cyan) produce green while red and blue (cyan) produce violet.
Intermediate colours: Mixing a primary and a secondary colour produces an intermediate colour such as orange-yellow.
Complementary colours: Colours that are opposite one another in the chromatic circle are called complementary. For example, green (resulting from the mixing the primary colours yellow and blue [cyan]) is complementary to red. Orange (a mixture of yellow and red [magenta]) is complementary to blue, while violet (a mixture of blue [cyan] and red [magenta] is complementary to yellow.
Warm colours: Colours ranging between yellow to red-violet on the circle i.e. yellow, orange-yellow, red and red-violet.
However, interaction between colours may cause a hue such as red-violet to appear warmer if it is placed next to a cold colour, such as green, or colder if it is placed next to a warm colour, such as orange.
Cold colours: Colours ranging between blue-violet and yellow-green on the chromatic circle i.e. blue-violet, blue, blue-green, green, yellow-green.
However, interaction between colours may cause a hue such as yellow-green to appear colder if it is placed next to a warm colour, such as red, or warmer if it is placed next to a cold colour, such as blue.
Pale or clear colours: Hues containing more or less white.
Dark colours: Hues containing more or less black.
Saturated or bright colours: Pure hues containing, theoretically, no white, black, grey or complementary colours. However, this definition can be stretched to extend the range of complementary colours. For example, the range of saturated blues is not limited to pure blues. Blues containing white or black may still be considered saturated. On the other hand, orange containing black, even in small quantities, is considered unsaturated because it becomes brownish.
Unsaturated or grey-tinted colours: Hues containing more or less grey, or of their complementary colour. Theoreticians also use the expression "dull colours" to designate those colours. The expression does not carry a derogatory meaning.
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| Munsell Color Space (Courtesy of Munsell Color Services, A Division of GretagMacbeth) |
Harmony: In decoration, harmony refers to a combination of colours that is pleasing to the eye.
The Paint Café has adopted definitions derived from the Munsell System of Color Notation. The Munsell System arranges colours in a three-dimensional space resembling a tree. The trunk (vertical axis) serves as a scale for neutral grey tones, black being at the bottom, white at the top. The horizontal axes, in variable lengths, represent a degree of saturation for each of the hues.
The world renowned Munsell System describes each colour according to three attributes: hue, value and chroma (saturation), terms that allow all those interested in colour to speak the same language.
Hue: It is the quality that distinguishes one colour from another. It is, for example, what differentiates blue from yellow.
Chromatic Circle (Courtesy of Munsell Color Services, A Division of GretagMacbeth)
Value: It refers to the position of a hue relative to the vertical grey scale. Value allows to qualify hues as pale or dark, or light and dark.
Munsell Value
(Courtesy of Munsell Color Services,
A Division of GretagMacbeth)
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| Munsell Chroma (Courtesy of Munsell Color Services, A Division of GretagMacbeth) |
Chroma (saturation): It describes the horizontal spread between a hue of the same scale value as neutral grey. Chroma allows us to describe a colour as saturated or unsaturated, or as bright or grey-tinted. Adding grey makes the hue less saturated or more unsaturated. A hue can also be modified with the addition of some of its complementary colour.
The seven colour contrasts
The seven colour contrasts, as described by Johannes Itten, painter and colour theoretician in Kunst der farbe, studienausgabe (The Art of Colour), form the basis of almost every colour effect used in interior design. The Paint Café provides a brief explanation. To find out how to transpose those notions into decorating, visit the Playing with Space page of the About Decorating section.
Pure colour contrasts
They result from the juxtaposition of saturated colours that are clearly different. These contrasts are peak when the three primary colours are juxtaposed to one another.
Light-dark contrasts
They are produced by the juxtaposition of a pale and dark colour or of a clear and dark colour. In a monochromatic palette, the use of such contrasts adds depth to the entire palette. In a palette made up of different colours, however, the absence of such contrasts, or the use of hues of equivalent lightness, help to link the different colours.
Warm-cold contrasts
They result from the juxtaposition of warm and cold colours, which makes warm hues appear warmer, and vice versa. This type of contrast, which helps balance colour schemes, can be found in many of the Harmony Collection palettes.
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In H212, the yellow (warm) makes the greens look rather cold, whereas in H210, the blue (cold) makes them look warmer. |
Complementary contrasts
They refer to the juxtaposition of diametrically opposed colours on the chromatic circle. Such contrasts contribute to the fundamental and natural balance of chromatic composition.
Simultaneous contrasts
They flow from the juxtaposition of two colours that are not exactly complementary. In such cases, colours seem to repel one another and vibrate as the eye tries to bring them closer to their precise complementary colours. The use of such contrasts makes chromatic compositions livelier and more interesting.
Quality contrasts
They are the result of juxtaposing saturated and unsaturated colours, or bright and a grey-tinted colours (to which grey or is complementary colour was added). This contrast exists only if unsaturated colours are considerably dominant.
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In this example, the red (A225-43), relatively more luminous, contrast with the other colours which are more attenuated. |
Quantity contrasts
They are the result of the juxtaposition of little and much, small and large. The surface devoted to each colour influences their impact on compositions. Creating balanced compositions calls for more than devoting equal space to each colour. The brightness and saturation of each hue must also be taken into account. The lighter a hue, the greater its impact and the lower its need for space. The more saturated or bright the colour is, the more powerful is its effect.
References: Itten, Johannes; Kunst der farbe, studienausgabe; Dessain & Tolra, Paris ; 1973 ; 95 pages.
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