Using the Color Wheel | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Color Wheel Information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The primary colors¹ are red, green, and blue (RGB). On light-emitting
sources (such as TVs and computer monitors), various combinations of the
primaries add to produce hue, saturation, and brightness.
The secondary colors¹ are cyan, magenta, and yellow (CMY²). On light-reflecting surfaces (such as books, paintings, and beads), various combinations of the secondaries subtract from the source light to produce the same overall effect. The physical world may be defined in terms of its impurities. The paints available to artists are not pure cyan, magenta, and yellow. Instead an artist has a variety of pigments from which to choose, often based on the color of various metallic oxides. In the purer digital world, it may be clear why my wheel has its six conical regions. Each primary and secondary forms its own family of shades. Observe how the hues slowly and intuitively transition to colors for which we actually have names. Also, observe how the primaries and secondaries are opposite. Red is opposite cyan, for example. Take a look at the color intensity wedge on the right. Did you notice how it tapers near the bottom? Is your intuition telling you why? If not, interact with the wedge in the Java applet above. Click high, then click low, where it is beginning to taper. Keep an eye on what happens to overall saturation. ¹Art classes often teach about a 12-color wheel. It names red, yellow, and blue as the "RYB" primaries, and orange, violet, and green as secondaries. That information is not incorrect; mixing paints as they suggest works. However, many artists actually working on canvass do not wish to confine themselves to the simplified 12-color context. For example, Don Jusko's Real Color Wheel (RCW) maps a more complete color wheel, referencing actual pigments. ²You may have seen the acronym CMYK, relating to printing
with color. C, M, and Y you know. The K is for blacK. CMY
inks by themselves produce a dark murky brown, so professional printers also
use black ink where true black is desired. RGB does not have an
equivalent problem. As light sources, maximal equal levels of red,
green, and blue form white, and their total absence form black. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Luma and Grey (Gray) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The "luma bars" in the lower left side of the applet demonstrate a color
characteristic known as luminosity. Colors, even with the
same numeric intensity (or brightness), are perceived differently.
Green appears brightest, then red, then blue. I thought it would be
interesting to show this relationship, hence the bars and the numeric
"luma %" value. If you really wish to experiment with luma,
double-click in the center of the Wheel.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||

Auxiliary Color Characteristics | |
|---|---|
| The Hueborhood |
|
|
![]()
|
|
The image in the lower right side of the applet shows 27 colors.
The colors are chosen from the "hueborhood" -- the 26 closest colors
to the selected color. There are 3 intensities, 3 hues, and 3
saturations total, centered around the selected color.
They are ordered by luma, and displayed in an
inward spiraling manner, beginning at the upper left corner. (Also see the
Square Snakes.) The small pattern in the center is three 3x3 layers of the same colors, but this time organized by hue, saturation, and intensity rather than luma. |
The image in the upper right side of the applet shows 64 greys or colors.
It shows the range of brightness for the selected saturation ring.
By default, you see this range as levels of grey, but if you click into the
image, it will toggle back and forth between a "luma snake" and a "saturation
snake". It is interesting that the brightest colors are not normally considered the "hottest". However, since the saturation snake is so unappealingly garish, it defaults to its luma snake form. |
Color Links, External and Internal | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Color and HTML Authoring EasyRGB's Color Tools Pixy's Color Scheme Generator 2 General Color Serendip's Color and Crafts J.L. Morton's Color Matters Charles Poynton's Color FAQ Don Jusko's Painting on Location Wikipedia's article on Color Theory ELA's Light, Vision, & Color Directory Earl F. Glynn's Color Reference Library |
This Page Validated |
Rich Franzen myPNG myHome PNG 16 Overview PNG 16 Technical Color Space Overview Kodak True Color Image Suite - - - Top of Color Wheel |
|
Eni Oken's 3d Art, Articles, and Workshops The ODP's Computers/Graphics/Web/Colors | ||
|
Peter Kaiser's The Joy of Visual Perception: A Web Book Timo Autiokari's Accurate Image Manipulation for Desktop Publishing | ||
|
Accesses since 1998-09-08 Last modified: 2007-01-17 |