Additive color

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Red, green, and blue lights combining by reflecting from a white wall: adding red to green yields yellow;
adding all three primary colors together yields white.

James Clerk Maxwell, with his color top that he used for investigation of color vision and additive color

Additive color, or "additive mixing", is a property of a color model that predicts the appearance of colors
made by coincident component lights with distinct colors, i.e. the perceived color can be predicted by
summing the numeric representations of the component colors. [1] Modern formulations of Grassmann's
laws[2] describe the additivity in the color perception of light mixtures in terms of algebraic equations. It
is important to note that additive color predicts perception and not any sort of change in the photons of
light themselves. These predictions are only applicable in the limited scope of color matching
experiments where viewers match small patches of uniform color isolated against a grey or black
background.
Additive color models are applied in the design and testing of electronic displays that are used to render
realistic images containing diverse sets of color using phosphors that emit light of a limited set of
primary colors. Examination with a sufficiently powerful magnifying lens will reveal that each pixel in
CRT, LCD, and most other types of color video displays is composed of red, green, and blue light emitting
phosphors which appear as a variety of single colors when viewed from a normal distance.

Additive color does not, alone, predict the appearance of mixtures of printed color inks, dye layers in
typical color photographs on film or paint mixtures. Subtractive color, is used to model the appearance
of color (absorbing) from pigments or dyes, such as those in paints, inks, and the three dye layers in
typical color photographs on film.

The combination of two of the common three additive primary colors in equal proportions produces an
additive secondary color—cyan, magenta or yellow. Additive color is also used to predict colors from
overlapping projected colored lights often used in theatrical lighting for plays, concerts, circus shows,
and night clubs.[3]

The full gamut of color available in any additive color system is defined by all the possible combinations
of all the possible luminosities of each primary color in that system. In chromaticity space, the gamut is a
plane convex polygon with corners at the primaries. For three primaries, it is a triangle.

History

The first permanent color photograph, taken by Thomas Sutton, under the direction of James Clerk
Maxwell in 1861.

Systems of additive color are motivated by the Young–Helmholtz theory of trichromatic color vision,
which was articulated around 1850 by Hermann von Helmholtz, based on earlier work by Thomas
Young. For his experimental work on the subject, James Clerk Maxwell is sometimes credited as being
the father of additive color.[4] He had the photographer Thomas Sutton photograph a tartan ribbon on
black-and-white film three times, first with a red, then green, then blue color filter over the lens. The
three black-and-white images were developed and then projected onto a screen with three different
projectors, each equipped with the corresponding red, green, or blue color filter used to take its image.
When brought into alignment, the three images (a black-and-red image, a black-and-green image and a
black-and-blue image) formed a full color image, thus demonstrating the principles of additive color. [5]

Color mixing

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Additive color mixing can be illustrated with colored lights.

There are two types of color mixing: additive and subtractive. In both cases, mixing is typically described
in terms of three colors and three secondary colors (colors made by mixing two of the three primary
colors in equal amounts).

Additive mixing

Main article: Additive color

A simulated example of additive color mixing. Additive primaries act as sources of light. The standard
red, green, and blue combine pairwise to produce the additive secondaries cyan, purple, and yellow.
Combining all three primaries (center) produces yellow and white.
The additive mixing of colors is not commonly taught to children, as it does not correspond to the mixing
of physical substances (such as paint) which would correspond to subtractive mixing. Two beams of light
that are superimposed mix their colors additively.

By convention, the three primary colors in additive mixing are red, green, and blue. In the absence of
light of any color, the result is black. If all three primary colors of light are mixed in equal proportions,
the result is neutral (gray or white). When the red and green lights mix, the result is yellow. When green
and blue lights mix, the result is a cyan. When the blue and red lights mix, the result is magenta.

green–red–blue additive mixing is used in television and computer monitors, including smartphone
displays, to produce a wide range of colors. A screen pixel uses a juxtaposition of these three primary
colors. Projection televisions sometimes have three projectors, one for each primary color.

Subtractive mixing

Main article: Subtractive color

A simulated example of (idealized) subtractive color mixing. An external source of illumination is

assumed, and each primary attenuates (absorbs) some of that light. The standard subtractive primaries
cyan, magenta, and yellow combine pairwise to make subtractive secondaries red, green, and blue
(which themselves are additive primaries, or in practice somewhat darker and less-saturated versions of
typical additive primaries). Combining all three primaries (center) absorbs all the light, resulting in black.
For real pigments, the results would be somewhat complicated by opacity and mixing behavior, and in
practice adding a fourth pigment such as black may be helpful.

The mixing of colored physical substances corresponds to subtractive color mixing, hence it corresponds
to our intuition about mixing colors. To explain the mechanism, consider mixing red paint with yellow
paint. The red paint is red because when the ambient light strikes it, the composition of the material is
such that it absorbs all other colors in the visible spectrum except for red. The red light, not being
absorbed, reflects off the paint and is what we see. This name mechanism describes the color of
material objects – note that light is not a material object – and so applies to the yellow paint as well.
Making recourse to the figure above demonstrating additive color mixing, one sees that yellow light is
composed of an (additive) mixture of red and green light. When we mix the two paints, the resulting
substance has red paint and yellow paint. The yellow paint absorbs all colors except for red and green.
However, the red paint will absorb the green reflected by the yellow paint. The red paint can be said to
subtract the green from the yellow paint. The resulting paint reflects only red light and so appears red to
our eyes. Note however that this description is theoretical and that the mixing of pigments does not
correspond to ideal subtractive color mixing because some light from the subtracted color is still being
reflected by one component of the original paint. This results in a darker and desaturated color
compared to the color that would be achieved with ideal filters.

The three primary colors typically used in subtractive color mixing systems are cyan, magenta, and
yellow, corresponding to the CMY color model and CMYK color model widely used in color printing. In
subtractive mixing of color, the absence of color is white and the presence of all three primary colors
makes a neutral dark gray or black. The secondary colors are the same as the primary colors from
additive mixing and vice versa. Subtractive mixing is used to create a variety of colors when printing or
painting on paper or other white substrates, by combining a small number of ink or paint colors. Red is
created by mixing magenta and yellow (removing green and blue). Green is created by mixing cyan and
yellow (removing red and blue respectively). Blue is created by mixing cyan and magenta (removing red
and green). Black can be approximated by mixing cyan, magenta, and yellow, although real pigments are
not ideal and so pure black is nearly impossible to achieve.

Color psychology

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The "rose of temperaments" (Temperamenten-Rose) compiled by Goethe and Schiller in 1798/9. The
diagram matches twelve colors to human occupations or their character traits, grouped in the four
temperaments: * choleric (red/orange/yellow): tyrants, heroes, adventurers * sanguine
(yellow/green/cyan) hedonists, lovers, poets * phlegmatic (cyan/blue/violet): public speakers, historians
* melancholic (violet/magenta/red): philosophers, pedants, rulers

Color psychology is the study of hues as a determinant of human behavior. Color influences perceptions
that are not obvious, such as the taste of food. Colors can also enhance the effectiveness of placebos.
For example, red or orange pills are generally used as stimulants. Color can indeed influence a person;
however, it is important to remember that these effects differ between people. Factors such as gender,
age, and culture can influence how an individual perceives color. For instance, heterosexual men tend to
report that red outfits enhance female attractiveness, while heterosexual females deny any outfit color
impacting that of men.

Color psychology is also widely used in marketing and branding. Many marketers see color as an
important part of marketing because color can be used to influence consumers' emotions and
perceptions of goods and services. Companies also use color when deciding on brand logos. These logos
seem to attract more customers when the color of the brand logo matches the personality of the goods
or services, such as the color pink being heavily used on Victoria's Secret branding. Colors are also
important for window displays in stores. Research shows that warm colors tended to attract
spontaneous purchasers, despite cooler colors being more favorable.

Influence of color on perception

Perceptions are not obviously related to color, such as the palatability of food, may in fact be partially
determined by color. Not only the color of the food itself but also that of everything in the eater's field
of vision can affect this. For example, in food stores, bread is normally sold in packaging decorated or
tinted with golden or brown tones to promote the idea of home baked and oven freshness. [1]

Placebo effect

The color of placebo pills is reported to be a factor in their effectiveness, with "hot-colored" pills
working better as stimulants and "cool-colored" pills working better as depressants. This relationship is
believed to be a consequence of the patient's expectations and not a direct effect of the color itself. [2]
Consequently, these effects appear to be culture-dependent. [3]

Blue public lighting

In 2000, Glasgow installed blue street lighting in certain neighborhoods and subsequently reported the
anecdotal finding of reduced crime in these areas. This report was picked up by several news outlets. [4][5]
A railroad company in Japan installed blue lighting on its stations in October 2009 in an effort to reduce
the number of suicide attempts, [6] although the effect of this technique has been questioned. [7]

Color preference and associations between color and mood

Main article: Color preferences

Color has long been used to create feelings of coziness or spaciousness. However, how people are
affected by different color stimuli varies from person to person.

Blue is the top choice for 35% of Americans, followed by green (16%), purple (10%) and red (9%). [8]

A preference for blue and green may be due to a preference for certain habitats that were beneficial in
the ancestral environment as explained in the evolutionary aesthetics article.[9]

There is evidence that color preference may depend on ambient temperature. People who are cold
prefer warm colors like red and yellow while people who are hot prefer cool colors like blue and green.
[10]

Some research has concluded that women and men respectively prefer "warm" and "cool" colors. [10]

A few studies have shown that cultural background has a strong influence on color preference. These
studies have shown that people from the same region regardless of race will have the same color
preferences. Also, one region may have different preferences than another region (i.e., a different
country or a different area of the same country), regardless of race. [10]

Children's preferences for colors they find to be pleasant and comforting can be changed and can vary,
while adult color preference is usually non-malleable. [10]

Some studies find that color can affect mood. However, these studies do not agree on precisely which
moods are brought out by which colors. [10]
A study by psychologist Andrew J. Elliot tested to see if the color of a person's clothing could make them
appear more sexually appealing. He found that, to heterosexual men, women dressed in the color red
were significantly more likely to attract romantic attention than women in any other color. The color did
not affect heterosexual women's assessment of other women's attractiveness. Other studies have
shown a preference for men dressed in red among heterosexual women. [11]

Common associations connecting a color to a particular mood may differ cross-culturally. For instance,
one study examined color associations and moods using participants from Germany, Mexico, Poland,
Russia, and the United States. The researchers did find some consistencies, including the fact that all
nations associated red and black with anger. However, only Poles associated purple with both anger and
jealousy and only Germans associated jealousy with yellow. [12] These differences highlight how culture
influences peoples' perceptions of color and color's relationship to mood.

Despite cross-cultural differences regarding the 'meanings' of different colors, one study revealed that
there were cross-cultural similarities regarding which emotional states people associated with particular
colors: for example, the color red was perceived as strong and active. [13]

Light, color, and surroundings

Light and color can influence how people perceive the area around them. Different light sources affect
how the colors of walls and other objects are seen. Specific hues of colors seen under natural sunlight
may vary when seen under the light from an incandescent (tungsten) light-bulb: lighter colors may
appear to be more orange or "brownish" and darker colors may appear even darker. [14] Light and the
color of an object can affect how one perceives its positioning. If light or shadow, or the color of the
object, masks an object's true contour (outline of a figure) it can appear to be shaped differently from
reality.[14] Objects under a uniform light-source will promote better impression of three-dimensional
shape.[14] The color of an object may affect whether or not it seems to be in motion. In particular, the
trajectories of objects under a light source whose intensity varies with space are more difficult to
determine than identical objects under a uniform light source. This could possibly be interpreted as
interference between motion and color perception, both of which are more difficult under variable
lighting.[14]

Carl Jung is most prominently associated with the pioneering stages of color psychology. Jung was most
interested in colors' properties and meanings, as well as in art's potential as a tool for psychotherapy.
His studies in and writings on color symbolism cover a broad range of topics, from mandalas to the
works of Picasso to the near-universal sovereignty of the color gold, the lattermost of which, according
to Charles A. Riley II, "expresses ... the apex of spirituality, and intuition". [15] In pursuing his studies of
color usage and effects across cultures and time periods, as well as in examining his patients' self-
created mandalas, Jung attempted to unlock and develop a language, or code, the ciphers of which
would

be colors. He looked to alchemy to further his understanding of the secret language of color, finding the
key to his research in alchemical transmutation. His work has historically informed the modern field of
color psychology.
Color scheme

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Celebration with fireworks over Miami, Florida on American Independence Day. Bank of America Tower
is also lit with the red, white and blue color scheme.

In color theory, a color scheme is the choice of colors used in design for a range of media. For example,
the "Achromatic" use of a white background with black text is an example of a basic and commonly
default color scheme in web design.

Color schemes are used to create style and appeal. Colors that create an aesthetic feeling when used
together will commonly accompany each other in color schemes. A basic color scheme will use two
colors that look appealing together. More advanced color schemes involve several related colors in
"Analogous" combination, for example, text with such colors as red, yellow, and orange arranged
together on a black background in a magazine article. The addition of light blue creates an "Accented
Analogous" color scheme.

Color schemes can contain different "Monochromatic" shades of a single color; for example, a color
scheme that mixes different shades of green, ranging from very light (white), to very neutral (gray), to
very dark (black).

Use of the phrase color scheme may also and commonly does refer to choice and use of colors used
outside typical aesthetic media and context, although may still be used for purely aesthetic effect as well
as for purely practical reasons. This most typically refers to color patterns and designs as seen on
vehicles, particularly those used in the military when concerning color patterns and designs used for
identification of friend or foe, identification of specific military units, or as camouflage. In hotel room
designs, the relationship between preferences of color schemes and gender was detected. Male guests
tend to prefer masculine color schemes, while female guests favor feminine color schemes [1].
A color scheme in marketing is referred to as a trade dress and can sometimes be protected by
trademark or trade dress laws, as is the pink color of Owens Corning fiberglass.[2]

Color schemes are often described in terms of logical combinations of colors on a color wheel.
Different[which?] types of schemes are used.[3][4][5]

Types

Further information: color theory

Monochromatic

Main article: Monochromatic color

Example of monochromatic color

Monochromatic colors are all the colors (tints, tones, and shades) of a single hue. Monochromatic color
schemes are derived from a single base hue, and extended using its shades, tones and tints (that is, a
hue modified by the addition of black, gray (black + white) and white. As a result, the energy is more
subtle and peaceful due to a lack of contrast of hue.

Complementary
Chevreul's 1855 "chromatic diagram" based on the RYB color model, showing complementary colors and
other relationships

Main article: Complementary color

For the mixing of colored light, Newton's color wheel is often used to describe complementary colors,
which are colors which cancel each other's hue to produce an achromatic (white, gray or black) light
mixture. Newton offered as a conjecture that colors exactly opposite one another on the hue circle
cancel out each other's hue; this concept was demonstrated more thoroughly in the 19th century. [citation
needed]

A key assumption in Newton's hue circle was that the "fiery" or maximum saturated hues are located on
the outer circumference of the circle, while achromatic white is at the center. Then the saturation of the
mixture of two spectral hues was predicted by the straight line between them; the mixture of three
colors was predicted by the "center of gravity" or centroid of three triangle points, and so on.

Split-Complementary: The split-complementary (also called 'Compound Harmony') color scheme is a

variation of the complementary color scheme. In addition to the base color, it uses the two "Analogous"
colors adjacent to its complement. Split-complementary color scheme has the same strong visual
contrast as the complementary color scheme, but has less pressure.

Achromatic

Main article: Grey

Any color that lacks strong chromatic content is said to be 'unsaturated, achromatic, or near neutral'.
Pure achromatic colors include black, white and all grays; near neutrals include browns, tans, pastels
and darker colors. Near neutrals can be of any hue or lightness.
Neutrals are obtained by mixing pure colors with white, black or gray, or by mixing two complementary
colors. In color theory, neutral colors are colors easily modified by adjacent more saturated colors and
they appear to take on the hue complementary to the saturated color. Next to a bright red couch, a gray
wall will appear distinctly greenish.

Black and white have long been known to combine well with almost any other colors; black decreases
the apparent saturation or brightness of colors paired with it, and white shows off all hues to equal
effect.[6]

Analogous

Main article: Analogous colors

Analogous colors (also called Dominance Harmony) color scheme are groups of colors that are adjacent
to each other on the color wheel, with one being the dominant color, which tends to be a primary or
secondary color, and two on either side complementing, which tend to be tertiary.

The term analogous refers to the having analogy, or corresponding to something in particular. An
analogous color scheme creates a rich, monochromatic look. It’s best used with either warm or cool
colors, creating a look that has a certain temperature as well as proper color harmony. While this is true,
the scheme also lacks contrast and is less vibrant than complementary schemes.[citation needed]

Red, reddish-orange, orange, yellow-orange is one example of a set of analogous colors.

Accented analogous

An accented analogous complementary scheme utilizes related hues lying adjacent on the color wheel
with a hue directly opposite to these. This direct complement becomes the accent color, used to create
a dominant color grouping of three similar colors accented with the direct complement (or the near
complement) of one of them. The complementary accent color creates an interesting contrast against
the dominant color grouping. This scheme is frequently used to put a warm accent color with a cool
analogous color pallet, or a cool accent color with a warm pallet.

Triadic

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2014)
Example of a triadic color scheme

The triadic color scheme uses three colors equally spaced around the color wheel. The easiest way to
place them on the wheel is by using a triangle of equal sides. Triadic color schemes tend to be quite
vibrant, even when using pale or unsaturated versions of hues, offers a higher degree of contrast while
at the same time retains the color harmony. This scheme is very popular among artists because it offers
strong visual contrast while retaining balance, and color richness. The triadic scheme is not as
contrasting as the complementary scheme, but it is easier to accomplish balance and harmony with
these colors.

The primary colors are an example of a triadic color scheme.

Tetradic

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2014)

The tetradic (double complementary) colors scheme is the richest of all the schemes because it uses
four colors arranged into two complementary color pairs. This scheme is hard to harmonize and requires
a color to be dominant or subdue the colors; if all four colors are used in equal amounts, the scheme
may look unbalanced.

Rectangle

The rectangle color scheme uses four colors arranged into two complementary pairs and offers plenty of
possibilities for variation. Rectangle color schemes work best when one color is dominant.

Square

The square color scheme is similar to the rectangle, but with all four colors spaced evenly around the
color circle. Square color schemes works best when all colors are evenly balanced.

Polychromatic
Main article: Polychromatic

The term polychromatic means having several colors.

It is used to describe light that exhibits more than one color, which also means that it contains radiation
of more than one wavelength. The study of polychromatics is particularly useful in the production of
diffraction gratings.

Color wheel

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For other uses, see Color wheel (disambiguation).

Boutet's 7-color and 12-color color circles from 1708

Wilhelm von Bezold's 1874 Farbentafel

A color wheel or color circle[1] is an abstract illustrative organization of color hues around a circle, which
shows the relationships between primary colors, secondary colors, tertiary colors etc.

Some sources use the terms color wheel and color circle interchangeably;[2][3] however, one term or the
other may be more prevalent in certain fields or certain versions as mentioned above. For instance,
some reserve the term color wheel for mechanical rotating devices, such as color tops or filter wheels.
Others classify various color wheels as color disc, color chart, and color scale varieties.[4]

As an illustrative model, artists typically use red, yellow, and blue primaries (RYB color model) arranged
at three equally spaced points around their color wheel. [5] Printers and others who use modern
subtractive color methods and terminology use magenta, yellow, and cyan as subtractive primaries.
Intermediate and interior points of color wheels and circles represent color mixtures. In a paint or
subtractive color wheel, the "center of gravity" is usually (but not always [6]) black, representing all colors
of light being absorbed; in a color circle, on the other hand, the center is white or gray, indicating a
mixture of different wavelengths of light (all wavelengths, or two complementary colors, for example).

The original color circle of Isaac Newton showed only the spectral hues and was provided to illustrate a
rule for the color of mixtures of lights, that these could be approximately predicted from the center of
gravity of the numbers of "rays" of each spectral color present (represented in his diagram by small
circles).[7] The divisions of Newton's circle are of unequal size, being based on the intervals of a Dorian
musical scale.[8] Most later color circles include the purples, however, between red and violet, and have
equal-sized hue divisions.[9] Color scientists and psychologists often use the additive primaries, red,
green and blue; and often refer to their arrangement around a circle as a color circle as opposed to a
color wheel.[10]

Colors of the color wheel

A 1908 color wheel with red, green, and violet "plus colors" and magenta, yellow, and cyan blue "minus
colors"

The typical artists' paint or pigment color wheel includes the blue, red, and yellow primary colors. The
corresponding secondary colors are green, orange, and violet or purple. The tertiary colors are green-
yellow, yellow-orange, orange-red, red-violet/purple, purple/violet-blue and blue-green.

A color wheel based on RGB (red, green, blue) or RGV (red, green, violet) additive primaries has cyan,
magenta, and yellow secondaries (cyan was previously known as cyan blue). Alternatively, the same
arrangement of colors around a circle can be described as based on cyan, magenta, and yellow
subtractive primaries, with red, green, and blue (or violet) being secondaries.

Most color wheels are based on three primary colors, three secondary colors, and the six intermediates
formed by mixing a primary with a secondary, known as tertiary colors, for a total of 12 main divisions;
some add more intermediates, for 24 named colors. Other color wheels, however, are based on the four
opponent colors, and may have four or eight main colors.

Goethe's Theory of Colours provided the first systematic study of the physiological effects of color
(1810). His observations on the effect of opposed colors led him to a symmetric arrangement of his color
wheel anticipating Ewald Hering's opponent color theory (1872).

... for the colours diametrically opposed to each other ... are those that reciprocally evoke each other in
the eye.
— Goethe, Theory of Colours

The color circle and color vision

A 1917 four-way color circle related to the color opponent process

A color circle based on spectral wavelengths appears with red at one end of the spectrum and is 100%
mixable violet at the other. A wedge-shaped gap represents colors that have no unique spectral
frequency. These extra-spectral colors, the purples, form from additive mixture of colors from the ends
of the spectrum.

In normal human vision, wavelengths of between about 400 nm and 700 nm are represented by this
incomplete circle, with the longer wavelengths equating to the red end of the spectrum. Complement
colors are located directly opposite each other on this wheel. These complement colors are not identical
to colors in pigment mixing (such as are used in paint), but when lights are additively mixed in the
correct proportions appear as a neutral grey or white. [11]

For example: the reason that the Wimbledon tennis tournament uses purple on the Wimbledon official
logo is that purple is located almost opposite of green on the color wheel. Purple against green provides
good contrast.[12]

The color circle is used for, among other purposes, illustrating additive color mixture. Combining two
colored lights from different parts of the spectrum may produce a third color that appears like a light
from another part of the spectrum, even though dissimilar wavelengths are involved. This type of color
matching is known as metameric matching.[13] Thus a combination of green and red light might produce
a color close to yellow in apparent hue. The newly formed color lies between the two original colors on
the color circle, but they are usually represented as being joined by a straight line on the circle, the
location of the new color closer to the (white) centre of the circle indicating that the resulting hue is less
saturated (i.e., paler) than either of the two source colors. The combination of any two colors in this way
are always less saturated than the two pure spectral colors individually.
Objects may be viewed under a variety of different lighting conditions. The human visual system is able
to adapt to these differences by chromatic adaptation. This aspect of the visual system is relatively easy
to mislead, and optical illusions relating to color are therefore a common phenomenon. The color circle
is a useful tool for examining these illusions.

Arranging spectral colors in a circle to predict admixture of light stems from work by Sir Isaac Newton.
Newton's calculation of the resulting color involves three steps: First, mark on the color circle the
constituent colors according to their relative weight. Second, find the barycenter of these differently
weighted colors. Third, interpret the radial distance (from the center of the circle to the barycenter) as
the saturation of the color, and the azimuthal position on the circle as the hue of the color. Thus,
Newton's color circle is a predecessor of the modern, horseshoe-shaped CIE color diagram.

The psychophysical theory behind the color circle dates to the early color triangle of Thomas Young,
whose work was later extended by James Clerk Maxwell and Hermann von Helmholtz. Young postulated
that the eye contains receptors that respond to three different primary sensations, or spectra of light. As
Maxwell showed, all hues, but not all colors, can be created from three primary colors such as red,
green, and blue, if they are mixed in the right proportions.

Color wheels and paint color mixing

There is no straight-line relationship between colors mixed in pigment, which vary from medium to
medium. With a psychophysical color circle, however, the resulting hue of any mixture of two colored
light sources can be determined simply by the relative brightness and wavelength of the two lights. [13] A
similar calculation cannot be performed with two paints. As such, a painter's color wheel is indicative
rather than predictive, being used to compare existing colors rather than calculate exact colors of
mixtures. Because of differences relating to the medium, different color wheels can be created
according to the type of paint or other medium used, and many artists make their own individual color
wheels. These often contain only blocks of color rather than the gradation between tones that is
characteristic of the color circle.[14]

Color wheel software

Main article: Color picker

A number of interactive color wheel applications are available both on the Internet and as desktop
applications. These programs are used by artists and designers for picking colors for a design.

HSV color wheel

A color wheel based on HSV, labeled with HTML color keywords

The HSL and HSV color spaces are simple geometric transformations of the RGB cube into cylindrical
form. The outer top circle of the HSV cylinder – or the outer middle circle of the HSL cylinder – can be
thought of as a color wheel. There is no authoritative way of labeling the colors in such a color wheel,
but the six colors which fall at corners of the RGB cube are given names in the X11 color list, and are
named keywords in HTML.[15]

Color schemes

Main article: Color scheme

Color schemes are logical combinations of colors on the color wheel.

Moses Harris, in his book The Natural System of Colours (1776), presented this color palette.
Complementary colors are two colors directly across from each other; for example, red and green are
complementary colors. Tetradic color palettes use four colors, a pair of complementary color pairs. For
example, one could use yellow, purple, red, and green. Tetrad colors can be found by putting a square or
rectangle on the color wheel.

In color theory, a color scheme is the choice of colors used in design for a range of media. For example,
the use of a white background with black text is an example of a common default color scheme in web
design.

Color schemes are used to create style and appeal. Colors that create an aesthetic feeling together
commonly appear together in color schemes. A basic color scheme uses two colors that look appealing
together. More advanced color schemes involve several colors in combination, usually based around a
single color—for example, text with such colors as red, yellow, orange and light blue arranged together
on a black background in a magazine article.

Ignaz Schiffermüller, Versuch eines Farbensystems (Vienna, 1772), plate I. Color wheels can be used to
create pleasing color schemes. An analogous color scheme is made up of colors next to each other on
the wheel. For example, red, orange, and yellow are analogous colors.

Color schemes can also contain different shades of a single color; for example, a color scheme that mixes
different shades of green, ranging from very light (almost white) to very dark.

Analogous colors are colors next to each other on the wheel. For example, yellow and green.
Monochromic colors are different shades of the same color. For example, light blue, indigo, and cyan
blue. Complementary colors are colors across from each other on a color wheel. For example, blue and
orange. Triadic colors are colors that are evenly across from each other, in a triangle over the color
wheel. For example, the primary colors red, yellow, and blue are triadic colors. [16]

For a list of ways to construct color schemes, regarding properties such as

warmness/achromiticness/complementariness, see color theory.
Analogous color schemes use colors that are next to each other on the color wheel. They usually match
well and create serene and comfortable designs. Analogous color schemes are often found in nature and
are harmonious and pleasing to the eye. [17]

Gallery

Newton's asymmetric color wheel based on musical intervals. Mixing "rays" in amounts given by the
circles yields color "z"

 Goethe's symmetric color wheel with 'reciprocally evoked colors'

A color circle based on additive combinations of the light spectrum, after Schiffman (1990)

Human Color Wheel based on the hue and light detected on human skins, after Harbisson (2004-2009)
 

RGB color wheel

RYB color wheel

Theory of painting

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The idea of founding a theory of painting after the model of music theory, was suggested by Goethe in
1807, and gained much regard among the avant-garde artists of the 1920s, the Weimar culture period,
like Paul Klee.[1][2]

From Goethe to Klee

Goethe famously said in 1807 that painting "lacks any established, accepted theory as exists in music". [2]
[3]
Kandinsky, in 1911, reprised Goethe, agreeing that painting needed a solid foundational theory, and
such theory should be patterned after the model of music theory, [2] and adding that there is a deep
relationship between all the arts, not only between music and painting. [4]

The comparison of painting with music gained much regard among the avant-garde artists of the 1920s,
the Weimar culture period, like Paul Klee.[1]

Structural semantic rhetoric

The Belgian semioticians known under the name Groupe µ, developed a method of painting research
called structural semantic rhetoric; the aim of this method is to determine the stylistic and aesthetic
features of any painting by means of the rhetorical operations of addition, omission, permutation and
transposition.