Vision and color are at the heart of painting. Here is the most comprehensive discussion for artists of color perception, color psychology, "color theory" and color mixing available online, and one of the most comprehensive available anywhere in any format.color in the world
the causes of color • surfaces & lights • surface & shadow color
• special material colors • physical color changes
color basics for artists
the colormaking attributes • the basic forms of color • color names • color in paint mixtures • color and light • color and contrast • color and pattern • color in space
additive & subtractive color mixing
additive color mixing (in the eye) • subtractive color mixing (in substances) • substance uncertainty • "theory" vs. experience
learning color through paints
three guiding principles • 25 color study topics
tonal value
the dominance of value • the value scale • hue, lightness and saturation • the artist's value wheel • grayscales & gamut mapping • painting values.
the artist's value wheel (HTML • PDF)
color temperature
warm vs. cool colors • warm/cool contrast effects • the origin of warm/cool • the warm/cool contrast in paints • unsaturated color zones • painting warm or cool
traditional "color theory"
top 10 "color theory" howlers • newtonian color confusions • "primary" colors • complementary colors • simultaneous contrast • color geometry • simultaneous contrast • color harmony
color wheels
creating a color wheel • "primary" color wheel • secondary color wheel • tertiary color wheel • more is less? a gamut comparison • color names
mixing with a color wheel
saturation costs • the color wheel fallacy • basic mixing method • split "primary" palette (dogma & critique) • unequal color spacing
testing the color wheel
testing the mixing method • mixtures between two "primary" colors • mixtures among all tertiary colors
an artist's color wheel
visual vs. mixing complements • the artist's color wheel • tour of the color wheel • why the difference? • making your own color wheel
the artist's color wheel — CIECAM version (HTML • PDF)
CIELAB version (HTML • PDF)
watercolor mixing complements
toward a modern color theory
the research cleansing • words & deeds • artists mix paints, not colors • what is color for? • color harmony & design • the dungeon of "color theory" • institutional failures • artist resistance • teach yourself to see
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