one color

as three

Create a single example of "one color as three."

Place one color in three different areas within a composition. Explore color relativity. How does the apparent hue, value, and saturation change when the color swatch is placed inside different large color fields. Your goal is to attempt to make a single color (as defined by its hue, value, and saturation) appear to be three different colors. Consider the importance of working with color contrasts, especially the first five contrasts listed below.

COLOR CONTRASTS: to be discussed in class

HUE--position on the color wheel as defined by wavelength

yellow, magenta, cyan, red, blue, green

VALUE--light / dark, relative brightness

SATURATION--high or low intensity

COMPLEMENTARY--see complementary pairs below

WARM / COOL--red, orange, or yellow versus blue, cyan, or green

SIMULTANEOUS--relates to our physiological response to color as demonstrated by the creation of an afterimage.

EXTENSION / PROPORTION--correspondence between the value of a color and the area it covers in the composition.

Johannes Itten: The Elements of Color

Joseph Albers: The Interaction of Color

Complement Pairs:

The complement pairs are created from the additive primaries of light (red, green, blue) and the subtractive primaries of pigment (cyan, magenta, yellow). The complements are positioned opposite from each other on the color wheel. These pairs will produce nuetral grey when they are mixed.

Color Relativity: The grey colors presented below are exactly the same.

However, the left grey swatch seems darker and the right grey swatch seems lighter due to juxtaposition with the yellow or the dark blue, respectively.