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10/05/2005 03:08:45 AM · #1 |
'Complementary' colours
The 'complementary' colours are the colours which are directly opposite from one another on the colour wheel. 'Complementary' colours are contrasting and stand out against each other. Often it is a good idea to use a 'complementary' colour as the hightlight colour.
Split 'Complementary'
Split 'complementary' is a colour and the analogous colours to its complement color. Using split 'complementary' colours can give you a design with a high degree of contrast, yet still not as extreme as a real 'complementary' colour. It also results in greater harmony than the use of the direct 'complementary'.
Sources are from this website:
For more info:
click this link
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10/05/2005 03:19:15 AM · #2 |
| Let me guess... concerned about the recent entries? |
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10/05/2005 03:32:34 AM · #3 |
Nice diagram, but alas the 'colors' do not show quite true on it. (computer screen thing)
Basics: red-green are 'complementary' as are blue-orange and yellow-violet These 'colors' are directly across from each other on a color wheel.
Red, Blue and Yellow are the ONLY primary 'colors'. Green, Orange and Violet are considered secondary 'colors'.
Blue-Green, Yellow-orange or Red-Violet and any color in between a primary & secondary are considered tertiary 'colors'.
To compose an image (photo or painting) using 'complementary' 'colors' you may use a primary or variation of and a secondary or variation of or variations of both. Example; Red and Yellow Green are still complements because of the green IN the yellow. Red-Violet and Green-Yellow would be a little like a double complement.
This can get even more complicated when you add black or white to your color. Shades of complementing 'colors' are still considered complemetary 'colors'.
There are additional "rules" to using 'complementary' 'colors' in an appealing way based on their intensity or light value. Red & Green are of equal value. for best results do not use them in equal portions. Blue has a value 1/3 of that of orange, avoid a composition with 1/3 blue and 2/3 orange. Yellow has a much greater value that violet and the combination to avoid it 1/16 yellow and 15/16 violet. You do not have to exclude other 'colors' to achieve the effect of using 'complementary' 'colors'.
Of course, there are rules so you may break them, but you will be most effective at "breaking rules' if you know them.
(My accreditation: I spent 15 weeks (4 years total) in an art school learning color theory, albeit 10 years ago or so, this is only the tip of the iceburg, and to make it more difficult my instructor did not believe in a color "wheel" but in the color spectrum and claimed that true violet does not occur in nature while blue violet and red violet do then you get into the non visible by humans part of the spectrum infrared and ultraviolet. He did allow us to use a "wheel to simplify the idea. Oh....and to him purple was NOT a color! His paintings sold for anywhere from $15,000 to $65,000, I guess he knew something about color amongst other things)
Edit; spelling errors
Message edited by author 2005-10-05 03:34:56. |
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10/05/2005 04:10:32 AM · #4 |
Thanks for the info Ristyz!
Yip, this wheel looks a little out of sync.
Maybe I can just add that even though primary colours are strong colours, they are perceived differently, eg. red is perceived as an "advancing" colour and green as a "receding" colour. This means that if you have equal amounts of red and green in you image, the red will probably overpower the green.
Got this info out of a book by Lee Frost. |
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10/05/2005 05:37:24 AM · #5 |
Got those images from a website, I thought they were reliable :)
I understand what you are saying, I only had 1 year of color theory so i'm not so known in this. But I know that black & white aren't 'colors', so I think they can't be used for 'Complementary' Colours. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Thanks for your info :) |
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10/05/2005 05:53:46 AM · #6 |
The argument here is whether you are talking about colours of light or colours of paint/ink. They are perceived differently and described differently.
The colour wheels are accurate as in colours of light where the primary colours according to the wavelengths of light are red, green and blue. The secondary colours (which are by definition 'complementary') are cyan(mix of blue and green light), magenta(mix of red and blue light) and yellow(red and green).
The artist will see and have been taught differently that the primary colours are red, yellow and blue - however the light they reflect is more accurately described as magenta, yellow and cyan - the direct opposite of the light theory. In practice the primary colours used by artists is a skew towards red from magenta and a slightly bluer shade of cyan.
So in conclusion both parties can consider themselves correct and give thanks to their education but perhaps need to open their eyes to other possibilities. |
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10/05/2005 12:29:10 PM · #7 |
Ah, yes, I'll have to admit that my "rules" that I learned in depth are mainly applied to classic arts which includes paintings, drawings and other printed works. The inclusion of the computer/television screen in the world of art twists things some. Even if you use cyan, magenta and yellow light to create your image (as with an traditional color enlarger) the end result is still a printed photograph and people view that with reflected light and it is subject to "classic" color rules.
Still, for the sake of classic color theory, magenta and cyan are still complements because magenta has red in it and cyan has green. These are some of the variations I mentioned.
I did post this info so that the few with beautiful pix that do not have even close to 'complementary' 'colors' shown in thier image (such as red & yellow) and get scored low for it can learn the basic of what a 'complementary' color is. Just hoping to help!
I will admit that for my entry in the challenge I did not push the envelope and stayed in the basic realm so that my 'complementary' 'colors' would be clear to all. And after all is said & done I'm not scoring that great...apparantly I need to work on a few things besides color theory! |
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10/05/2005 12:35:12 PM · #8 |
That color wheel is accurate. There is more than one color wheel!
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