Colour theory

When creating my own looks and designs the colours tabby intend to incorporate are a very important factor. Depending on the theme or style that you are trying to achieve, you will need to choose appropriate colours in order for your vision to come across to others viewing it.  

The colour wheel is a tool that can help you to create the look that you desire. Sir Isaac Newton developed the first colour wheel in 1666. Modern scientists and artists have studied and designed more than a few variations of this concept. The colour wheel itself is made up of three different categories, theses being primary, secondary and tertiary. Primary colours are the colours on the wheel that cannot be made up by adding one colour to another. There are three of these and they are yellow, red and blue. A secondary colour is a colour that you can create by mixing two of the primary colours together, for example red and yellow together make orange. Orange, green and purple are all secondary colours on the colour wheel. Finally there are tertiary colours, which are created by combining both a secondary colour and a primary colour together. An example of this would be mixing together green and yellow and creating a shade of lime green.  

There are various other ways of sectioning off the colours on the colour wheel. By splitting the wheel in half you’ll be able to see one half has all warm tones within it and the other has cool. Knowing about the tones in colour will be very helpful when working with foundation because all skin types have different under tones. You will ned to be able to identify these tones in oder to create the correct colour of foundation for your model. 

As you can see above, reds oranges and yellows are all warm tones, whereas the greens, violets and blue are all cool. This works the same way with tones in an individuals hair, if they have warm tones such as yellow in their blonde then it will be warm, and to cool it down it will need to be counteracted with a violet or blue stain. 

 Colour Harmony is something that we as artists aim to achieve, creating something that is aesthetically pleasing to the eye. When harmony is achieved it engages the viewer and it creates an inner sense of order and balance however when something is not harmonious, it can come across as chaotic.The human brain rejects what it can not organise and what it can not understand therefore colour harmony is something that we strive for. 

There are various theories for harmony in colours and we will be working with the following two.

Anagulous colours are any three colours that sit side by side on the colour wheel.

Monochromatic colours are all of the tints, tones, and shades of a single colour. On a more advanced colour chart you will find the monochromatic shades of a certain colour onto of one another as you look from the outside of the circle into the centre. 

Despite the brain striving for colour harmony, it can often work that colours which are contrasting are also appealing to individuals. This is because of nature and the colours that nature itself has put together. This may sound rather far fetched, however if you think about it physically, you never look at a tree and think that the colour of the leaves clash with the bark, nor do you think that the various colours of a flowers petal look like they don't ‘match’. This is a theory that we will also be working with in out designs.

Complimentary colours also create harmony, these are any two colours that are directly across from one another on the colour wheel. These opposing colours create maximum contrast and maximum stability.

All colours have different meanings and symbolisms behind them and this will need to be taken into account when creating our designs. 

Red – anger, passion, rage, desire, excitement, energy, speed, strength, power, heat, love, aggression, danger, fire, blood, war, violence

Pink – love, innocence, healthy, happy, content, romantic, charming, playfulness, soft, delicate, feminine

Yellow – wisdom, knowledge, relaxation, joy, happiness, optimism, idealism, imagination, hope, sunshine, summer, dishonesty, cowardice, betrayal, jealousy, covetousness, deceit, illness, hazard

Orange – humor, energy, balance, warmth, enthusiasm, vibrant, expansive, flamboyant

Green – healing, soothing, perseverance, tenacity, self-awareness, proud, unchanging nature, environment, healthy, good luck, renewal, youth, vigour, spring, generosity, fertility, jealousy, inexperience, envy

Blue – faith, spirituality, contentment, loyalty, fulfillment peace, tranquility, calm, stability, harmony, unity, trust, truth, confidence, conservatism, security, cleanliness, order, sky, water, cold, technology, depression

Purple – erotic, royalty, nobility, spirituality, ceremony, mysterious, transformation, wisdom, enlightenment, cruelty, arrogance, mourning, power, sensitive, intimacy

Brown  – materialistic, sensation, earth, home, outdoors, reliability, comfort, endurance, stability, simplicity

Black – No, power, sexuality, sophistication, formality, elegance, wealth, mystery, fear, anonymity, unhappiness, depth, style, evil, sadness, remorse, anger

White – Yes, protection, love, reverence, purity, simplicity, cleanliness, peace, humility, precision, innocence, youth, birth, winter, snow, good, sterility, marriage (Western cultures), death (Eastern cultures), cold, clinical, sterile

Silver  – riches, glamorous, distinguished, earthy, natural, sleek, elegant, high-tech

Gold – precious, riches, extravagance. warm, wealth, prosperity, grandeur