Colour Theory

Focusing on the fundamental terminology through answering the question of how we know a apple is red?

Colour includes contextual reference to define how the colour is interpreted, colour is also dependent on the surroundings, what is around it. 

In everyday live it is rare to see isolated colour, colour is surrounded by another colour. Terms included in colour is tones and shades. Colour is a changeable medium.

There is three processes of colour interpretation: Physical, Physiological, phycological. 

Physics with colour

Physical aspect, the idea of light defining a colour interpretation. The response of physics meeting biology this is through light hitting an object. Other animals have stronger eyesight therefore will see other colours which we may not be able to interpret. Colours include different wavelengths.

Wavelengths are separate until they hit an object. The surroundings is white light however until wavelengths hit it to perceive that colour. Ultra violet is invisible to us, contrasted to light being made up of all the possible colours made up. Colours is perceived through reflection. Surface is important tp how colour will be perceived. 

What colour is the sky?

Most people would interpret the sky as a blue colour, however the sky appears that colour through wavelengths; the sky has no colour is is pure white light. 

Exploring the biological aspect

Eyes interpret light through the retina. The retina includes two cells: rods and cones. Rods convey shades of black, white and grey. Cones allow the brain to perceive colour. Cones include three types: first type is sensitive to red and orange light, type 2 i sensitive to green, type 3 is sensitive to blue. If both types are simulated both green and red will result to perceiving yellow. Yellow doesn't exist; it is a combination of wavelengths. The only colours we see is red, green and blue. Colours we interpret are different proportions of red, blue, green.

Colour blindness

colours are perceived differently then what they are. There are four types of colour blindness, deuteranomally, protanopia, protanomaly, and also including no colour vision deficiency. Photanomally refers to as the red weakness, Protanopia refers to red and green colour blindness, and deuteranomaly refers to green cone photopigment is abnormal. This reveals how individual colours are perceived in addition to the commonality to perceive colour. Colour is the core awareness of the development work within our practise.

Terms

Josef Albers and Johannes Itten both investigated colour through the development into optics.  Colour was investigated through media of paint. Paint was produced through pigments. These paints were mixed to form created colours, this is an example of engagement with colour. Primary colours were based on pigment, the physical media. When this is mixed it forms secondary colours which map out a colour wheel to reveal the properties of each colour. Tertiary is the mixing colours around the colour wheel. This then leads to the relationship of colours such as contemporary colours, chromatic opposite. When contemporary colours are mixed they create grey tones which addresses the opposing forces, an absence of colour. This therefore indicates a neutral aspect which makes the colours become more dull. This creates the idea of cancelling colours out to become more neutral. These colours are found in the surrounding environment.

Optical mixing

Colour modes such as RGB and CMYK

RGB which stands for red, green, blue.

CMYK- stands for cyan, magenta, yellow and black.

These colour modes are different ways of how we perceive light. Dealing with different properties, the relationship between two different colour modes.

Cyan is mixed with yellow it will create green. If yellow is mixed with magenta is will produce red. Cyan is mixed with magenta is will produce blue. Black is equal to both CMYK and RGB. Subtracture colour is CMYK  and Addictive colour is RGB.