Colour Theory and Colour Application
This domain tests hue, value and chroma, colour schemes, colour interaction and practical application in still life, landscape and design. Questions may ask you to identify a scheme, correct a muddy mix, or explain warm and cool spatial effects.
Core rules
- Hue is colour name; value is lightness or darkness; chroma is saturation. Primary colours mix to make secondary colours; secondary colours mix to make tertiary colours.
- Complementary colours sit opposite on the colour wheel and create maximum contrast. Analogous colours are neighbours. A triadic scheme uses three evenly spaced hues. Split-complementary uses one hue plus the two neighbours of its complement.
- Warm colours tend to advance; cool colours recede. Simultaneous contrast makes a colour appear different beside another.
- Darken with a darker hue or complement, not only black. Lighten with a tint and adjust hue, not only white.
Worked example
Paint an orange fruit on a blue-grey cloth. Orange and blue are complementary, so the fruit stands out. If both are fully saturated, they vibrate; use a duller blue-grey cloth and reserve pure orange for the lit side. Put a cool reflected light on the fruit shadow and a warm reflected note in the cloth shadow. This shows colour interaction and keeps unity.
Traps
Too many saturated colours destroy focus. Black used as a shadow kills hue. White used alone makes chalky highlights. Equal areas of complementary colours cause visual vibration. Do not ignore local colour or the colour of the light source.
Key points
- Hue, value and chroma are separate controls.
- Complementary contrast is strongest but needs area control.
- Warm advances; cool recedes.
- Shadows contain reflected colour.
- Limit the palette to strengthen unity.