Color
| English | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| colour | 色彩 | sè cǎi |
| hue | 色相 | sè xiàng |
| saturation | 饱和度 | bǎo hé dù |
| colour wheel | 色轮 | sè lún |
| primary | 三原色 | sān yuán sè |
| secondary | 间色 | jiàn sè |
| complementary | 互补色 | hù bǔ sè |
| analogous | 邻近色 | lín jìn sè |
| warm | 暖色 | nuǎn sè |
| cool | 冷色 | lěng sè |
The three properties
- Colour 色彩 is light reflected from a surface, with three properties.
- Hue 色相 is the colour's name; value is its lightness; saturation 饱和度 is its intensity.
- These three describe any colour completely.
The name of a colour (red, blue, green) is its...
Hue is the colour's name; value is lightness, saturation is intensity.
Select all three properties of colour.
Hue, value, and saturation define a colour; weight is not a colour property.
The colour wheel
- The colour wheel 色轮 organises hues in a circle.
- Primary 三原色 colours (red, yellow, blue) mix to make secondary 间色 colours.
- Complementary 互补色 colours sit opposite; analogous 邻近色 colours sit next to each other.
Warm or cool colour?
Sort each colour as warm or cool.
Complementary colours sit opposite each other on the colour wheel.
Complementary colours are opposite; analogous colours are neighbours.
Match each term to its meaning.
Primaries = R/Y/B; complementary = opposite; analogous = neighbouring.
Warm and cool
- Warm 暖色 colours (red, orange, yellow) advance and energise.
- Cool 冷色 colours (blue, green, violet) recede and calm.
- A tint adds white, a shade adds black.
Warm colours seem to advance, while ____ colours seem to recede.
Cool colours recede and calm; warm colours advance.
Do not confuse the artist's RYB colour wheel (red-yellow-blue primaries) with the screen's RGB (red-green-blue). On paper, mixing red and yellow gives orange; on a screen, colours mix differently. Know which system you are working in.
Place a complementary pair — blue and orange — side by side and each looks more intense. Mix them together instead and they dull toward grey. This is why artists use complements both to make colours pop and to mix natural neutrals.
Colour has three properties: hue (name), value (light/dark), saturation (intensity). The colour wheel shows primary, secondary, complementary (opposite), and analogous (neighbouring) colours. Warm colours advance; cool colours recede.