colors dcece notes visual arts dkp sir cuh.pdf

What is color and how do we observe it?
How do our eyes perceive color?
What is the visible spectrum?
How do different colors of light differ from each other?
News • Barbara Hepworth’s Sculpture with Colour saved for nation • Aug. 19, 2025, 6:21 AM ET (The Guardian)
colour, the aspect of any object that may be described in terms of hue, lightness, and saturation. In physics, colour is associated specifically with electromagnetic radiation of a certain range of wavelengths visible to the human eye. Radiation of such wavelengths constitutes that portion of the electromagnetic spectrum known as the visible spectrum—i.e., light.

Vision is obviously involved in the perception of colour. A person can see in dim light, however, without being able to distinguish colours. Only when more light is present do colours appear. Light of some critical intensity, therefore, is also necessary for colour perception. Finally, the manner in which the brain responds to visual stimuli must also be considered. Even under identical conditions, the same object may appear red to one observer and orange to another. Clearly, the perception of colour depends on vision, light, and individual interpretation, and an understanding of colour involves physics, physiology, and psychology.

The video thumbnail image shows a purple and pink flower in a field.
How color works: Hue, saturation, and pigmentColors result from the electromagnetic radiation of a range of wavelengths visible to the eye.
See all videos for this article
An object appears coloured because of the way it interacts with light. The analysis of this interaction and the factors that determine it are the concerns of the physics of colour. The physiology of colour involves the eye’s and the brain’s responses to light and the sensory data they produce. The psychology of colour is invoked when the mind processes visual data, compares it with information stored in memory, and interprets it as colour.

This article concentrates on the physics of colour. For an overview of the primary colours, with their basic secondary and tertiary mixtures, usefully notated as the 12 segments of a circle, see colour wheel. For a discussion of colour as a quality of light, see light and electromagnetic radiation. For the physiological aspects of colour vision, see eye: Colour vision. See also painting for a discussion of the psychological and aesthetic uses of colour.

Colour and light
The nature of colour
Who created the color wheel?1 of 2
Who created the color wheel?For millennia, many believed Aristotle's theory that all colors were a mixture

1. Importance of colors in life
Color-
Colors are vibration of lights. Colors are present all around us and are involved in
every aspect of our life. Life would have been dull and meaningless without colors
for our choice of decoration and clothing depends on colors. This essay will discuss
the importance of colors.
The human eye is the mean that is used to detect color. Sometimes, the choice of
color reflects our personality and thoughts. In fact, colors influence our emotions
and actions. Even blind people are affected by colors. Our lives are filled with colors
if we think positively. They symbolize happiness and confidence. It has an important
role to play in religious beliefs also as black is associated with darker things of life.
Colors have a major part to play in the fashion industry as well. Whether it is a
traditional outfit or modern one, both are very colorful and look wonderful. Colors
add glamour to an outfit. Teenagers, nowadays wear very attractive colored outfit
such as pink which provides a very elegant and girly style look every girl would love
to wear. Blue and other bright colors are also worn and they can do wonder to a
simple look. Colors are very important aspect in the home decoration field.
Nowadays, most of the houses are seen painted in bright colors whether the interior
or the exterior part of the house. This not only attract the attention of people but also
provides a relaxing atmosphere compared to the white
Definition-Color is the property of light rather than of bodies it is not an entity
but a sensation conveyed to the mind through media of the eyes – F.A.Taylor
Our relationship with colors
Not everybody will react the same way to the same color, because colors influence
us on a few different levels. On one hand, we have the general social or cultural
level, and on the other hand, our reaction is individual, influenced by how this color
is presented in our personal lives. For example, red is typically associated with a
sense of urgency, it represents danger and forces us to become more alert, more
active. On the other hand, it might also be one of the colors of your grandma’s
kitchen, making you feel all warm and safe instead.
Cool colors
White - innocence, cleanliness, a sense of space
Green - health, tranquility, harmony
Blue - calmness, wisdom, loyalty
Warm colors
Red - love, energy, life

2. Yellow - happiness, warmth, optimism
Pink- romance, gentleness, calming
Colors play a vital role in our lives and how we respond to our surroundings. Use the
above guide as a starting point that can help you determine how to use them to your
advantage and help yourself in everyday situations.
Life is enormous, life is bright life is colorful. Colorful is the main feature among
those three, as colors of the life is the mechanism that may turn the dull day into the
brightest day one have ever seen, or on the different change one's mood for bad. Say
you wake up in the morning and see the shining sun. the shining sun brighten the
colors of the sky and it turns into the bluest sky you have ever seen, the grass is so
green that you are failing for walk over it with barefoot. The shining sun multiplies
the brightness of the colors that surround you, and that entire specter makes you
unbelievably happy.
Alternatively, say you wake up in the morning in good mood, but there is a rain
outside the window, the sky is grey and dull and there is nix sunshine. Everything
around you seems to be grey and colorless. Such dullness of the world may affect
your bad mood. Your mood will be as dull and sad as the color of the sky. Sure, in
case if you are a person of romantic life the deep grey of the wet asphalt will
provoke the romantic note inside of your soul and may result the formation of some
poetic or artistic masterpiece.
I bet as you read the written above you observe yourself in every single
circumstance and they are common for you. One hardly meet a person whose mood
never been influenced with the colors of the world. Sure, everyone felt it at least one
time in his or her life, but you may have never thought about the fact that the mood
and approach you have may be
Resulted with the colors that surrounds you
Colors are the phenomena of visual insight. One cannot hear, taste or feel the color,
the only way to recognize the color is to see it. As we see a certain color we feel no
emotion about it, we do not get mad or joy at one time, but our internal mood starts
its changes. Certain Color activates certain psychical reaction of the person and with
the laps of some time; the mood of the person is changed on one or other way. For
example, staring at the green-colored object will soon provoke the feeling of the
calmness and if first person felt anxious, green will bring composure and harmony of
one's soul and mood.

3. Color Psychology – How Colors Affect Your Everyday Life
Color psychology can be termed as the study of how colors affect our moods and
feelings. When we view different colors, different psychological cues are triggered.
We always feel more relaxed in a greenhouse full of plants. Offices having warmer
colored hues such as browns and golds actually make people feel warmer while
those with lighter colors like pale blue or white make people feel cooler. There are
real no temperature changes caused by these colors, but they can still affect the
perception of the individuals experiencing them.
Characteristics and effect of colors -
Color effect 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.
What it represents

4. Primary colors -
Can be mixed to create all other color
The primary colors are those which cannot be created by mixing other colors in a
given color space. For subtractive combination of colors, as in mixing of pigments
or dyes for printing, the primaries normally used are cyan, magenta and yellow
though the set of red, yellow, blue is popular among artists. Primary colors can be
mixed together to produce secondary colors





Red
Yellow Blue

5. Secondary Colors
A Color resulting from the mixing of two primary colors
In this case it is either violet/purple, orange or green. Secondary subtractive colors
are produced by mixing two other subtractive primary colors together. The additive
primary colors are red, green and blue. When these subtractive colors are mixed,
they produce three other secondary colors
• Red + Yellow= Orange
• Yellow + Blue= Green
• Blue + Red= Violet

Tertiary Colors -
Created by mixing primaries & secondary's
Tertiary colors or intermediate colors are created by combining a primary
color with a secondary color or two secondary colors. For example, green
mixed with blue makes a teal or blue-green color, while purple mixed
with blue creates a magenta or red-purple color.
Secondary
Colors
Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Blue
Violet

6. Red +
Violet = Red Violet
Violet + Blue = Violet Blue
Blue + Green = Blue Green
Green + Yellow = Green Yellow
Yellow + Orange = Yellow Orange
Orange + Red = Orange Red
or

7. Colors Temperatures
Warm Colors Cool Colors
Red Purples


Orange Blue


Yellow Green



Neutral Colors: White, Black & Gray


Complementary or opposite colors -
Complementary colors are pairs of colors which, when combined, cancel each other
out. This means that when combined, they produce a grayscale color like white or
black. When placed next to each other, they create the strongest contrast for those
particular two colors. Due to this striking color clash, the term opposite colors is
often considered more appropriate than "complementary colors".
Which pairs of colors are considered complementary depends on the color theory
one uses.
Modern color theory uses either the RGB additive color model or the CMY
subtractive color model, and in these, the complementary pairs are red–cyan, green–
magenta, and blue–yellow.
In the traditional RYB color model, the complementary color pairs are red–green,
yellow–purple, and blue–orange.
Opponent process theory suggests that the most contrasting color pairs are red–
green, and blue–yellow.



Value -

8. Value refers to the amount of contrast between dark and light. With strong value
there is maximum contrast, and the result is an emotionally active and dynamic
picture. With lesser value (grayed images) there is less contrast and a more passive,
static and decorative effect.
Maximum contrast of Value (dark and light) places objects in the foreground of a
picture, while minimum contrast (gray) places objects in the background.

Saturation-
Chromo or Color saturation refers to the intensity of color in an image. In technical
terms, it is the expression of the bandwidth of light from a source the term hue refers
to the color of the image itself, while saturation describes the intensity (purity) of
that hue. When color is fully saturated, the color is considered in purest (truest)
version. Primary colors red, blue and yellow are considered truest version color as
they are fully saturated.
As the saturation increases, the colors appear to be more pure. As the saturation
decreases, the colors appear to be more washe