EndNotes

MacEvoy, Bruce, handprint: color of theory. 2005. Online. Internet. http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/water05.html (May 3, 2008)
1

Swift, Gary. Colors in Context. 1996. Online. Internet. http:// www.designmatrix.com/pl/cyberpl/cic.html (May 2, 2008)
33

MacEvoy, Bruce, color science & color theory. handprint: color of theory. 2005. Online. Internet. http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/ book3.html#chevreul (May 2, 2008)
2

Albers Explanation. Color Contrast. Online. Internet. http:// www.cs.brown.edu/courses/cs092/VA10/HTML/AlbersExplanation.html (May 2, 2008)
34 35 36 37

Echo Productions. Michel Eugne Chevreul. 1999. Online. Internet. http://www.colorsystem.com/projekte/engl/17chee.htm (April 4, 2008) From modernist rationalism to user-centered design. 2006. Online. Thesis. Internet. http://adt.lib.swin.edu.au/uploads/approved/adtVSWT20070214.163710/public/02whole.pdf (April 4, 2008) The Munsell Color System. 2005. Online. Internet. http://www. applepainter.com (April 4, 2008) Warm/cool visual forces. 2007. Online. Internet. http://wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75633 (April 4, 2008)

On Color Theory
An analysis and criticism of modern color theory by James E. Cain 02 May 2008

Kelly, 145. Albers, 60.

Albers, Josef. Interaction of Color. New Haven & London, Yale University Press, 1963.
3

Feisner, Edith Anderson. Color: How to Use Colour In Art and Design. King Laurence Publishing. 1996, 13.
4 5 6 7

MacEvoy, Bruce, the geometry of color perception. handprint: color of theory. 2005. Online. Internet. http://www.handprint. com/HP/WCL/color2.html (May 2, 2008)
38 39

Ibid, 13. Ibid, 13.

Ibid.

Sidaway, Ian. Color Mixing Bible. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 2002, 11. Newton and the Color Spectrum, Color Vision & Art. Online. Internet. http://webexhibits.org/colorart/bh.html (May 2, 2008)
8 9

MacEvoy, Bruce. an artists color wheel. handprint: color of theory. 2005. Online. Internet. http://www.handprint.com/HP/ WCL/color16.html (May 2, 2008) Long, Jim and Joy Turner Luke. The New Munsell Student Color Set. 2001. Fairchild Books & Visuals, New York City, NY.
40

Introduction
Color has a powerful quality; its personal expression affects our mood, reflects our choices of dress or transportation, it colors the language and delights us on the fourth of July. The study of color goes as far back as the ancient Greeks and throughout history was discussed by a variety of scientists and artists. Leonardo da Vinci, Sir Issac Newton, Johann Goethe, MichelEugene Chevreul, and many others made significant contributions to the study and discussion of color. Modern color theory, however, is largely derived from the Bauhaus. The Bauhaus (1919-1933) was a German school with a primary objective to unify art and technology. Instructors at the Bauhaus compiled previous discussions of the study of color, forming them into a single curriculum. Subjective experiences were rejected in favor of controlled conditions where color and art could be discussed through the language of science rather than through the prism of art. The legacy of the Bauhaus had the most impact on color theory. Johannes Itten, an instructor at the Bauhaus, is credited as a major and original contributor to the study of color, despite being largely a compiler of past information. Many Bauhaus theories of color only work in the classroom and dissolve with real-world application. Even so, the Bauhaus theories continue today to pass on these ideas in the same way children pass on the croup.1 Though the Bauhaus opened art for all people, its reliance on scientifc all-ornothing principles infected its students, propogating a detached view of art, making them susceptible to mistakes introduced by instructors attempting to find a universal application.

Principles of Color Theory

Color is created when light strikes a surface, causing certain wavelengths to be absorbed, while others are reflected. The reflected wavelength is interpreted by our eye as a specific color (red, blue, etc). Additive mixing: the mixing of light. Subtractive mixing: the mixing of pigments (paint). In subtractive mixing, secondary and tertiary mixes are always darker than the primaries they are made from. The more colors that are added together, the more wavelengths are absorbed, and thus less wavelenghts are reflected. Color wheel: a circular representation of the colors and their relationship to one another. The color wheel is almost always a guide for subtractive, not additive mixing. Primary colors: Typically: red, yellow, and blue. Secondary colors Also named: yellow-red (orange), yellow-blue (green), and red-blue (violet). Results when two primary colors are mixed. Tertiary colors - Also Intermediate colors. Results when a primary and a secondary color are mixed.

Principles of Color Theory, continued:

Hue: Pure color without the addition of black, white, or gray. (Fully saturated). Tint: Color mixed with white, or in the case of watercolor, lightened by adding increasing amounts of water. Tone: The relative strength of the hue as it approaches black or white at the opposite ends of the value scale. Obtained by mixing a color with gray or its complement. Value: The relative darkness or lightness of a color.

Sidaway, 11. Feisner, 14.

MacEvoy, Bruce. an artists color wheel. handprint: color of theory. 2005. Online. Internet. http://www.handprint.com/HP/ WCL/color16.html (May 2, 2008)
41 42 43

10 11

Ibid.

Sidaway, 11. Ibid.

12 13

MacEvoy, Bruce. color temperature. handprint: color of theory. 2005. Online. Internet. http://www.handprint.com/HP/ WCL/color12.html (May 2, 2008) Warm/Cool Visual Forces WetCanvas!. 2002. Online. Internet. http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75633 (May 2, 2008)
44

MacEvoy, Bruce, color science & color theory. handprint: color of theory. 2005. Online. Internet. http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/ book3.html (May 2, 2008)
14 15

Ibid.

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. Theory of Colours, trans. Charles Lock Eastlake, Cambridge, Massachusetts: The M.I.T. Press, 1982. Goethe and Chevreul: Simultaneous Contrast. Color Vision & Art. Online. Internet. http://webexhibits.org/colorart/simultaneous.html (May 2, 2008)
16

MacEvoy, Bruce. tonal value. handprint: color of theory. 2005. Online. http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/color11.html (May 2, 2008)
45

Simultaneous Contrast. Color Vision & Art. Online. Internet. http://www.webexhibits.org/colorart/contrast.html (May 2, 2008)
46

Echo Productions. Michel Eugene Chevreul. Online. Internet. http://www.colorsystem.com/projekte/engl/17chee.htm (May 2, 2008)
17

MacEvoy, Bruce. tonal value. handprint: color of theory. 2005. Online. http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/color11.html (May 2, 2008)
47 48 49 50

MacEvoy, Bruce, color science & color theory. handprint: color of theory. 2005. Online. Internet. http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/ book3.html#chevreul (May 2, 2008)
18 19 20

Ibid. Ibid.

Ibid.

Chevreuls Theories. 1999. Online. Internet. http://www.brown. edu/Courses/CG11/2005/Group161/SimultaneousColorContrast.htm (May 2, 2008) MacEvoy, Bruce, color science & color theory. handprint: color of theory. 2005. Online. Internet. http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/ book3.html#chevreul (May 2, 2008)
21

Brandt, Erik, Jenny Tondera / Steven Heller. Summer 2000. Online. Interview. Internet. http://geotypografika.com/2008/04/01/ jenny-tondera-steven-heller (April 4, 2008)

Bibliography
Behrens, Roy R. Art, Design and Gestalt Theory. 1998. Online. Journal Article. Internet. http://cit.dixie.edu/vt/vt2600/gestalt. html (April 4, 2008) Edwards, Betty. Color: A Course in Mastering the Art of Mixing Colors. Penguin Group, New York, 2004. Eiseman, Leatrice. Color: Messages and Meanings. Handbooks Press. Gloucester, MA, 2006. Eliot, Roger. 16 Lessons in Color Theory: The History of Color. 2007. Online. Internet. http://www.wetcanvas.com/Articles2/113674/844 (April 4, 2008) Gregg, Gail. I Will Never Look at Painting the Same Way Again. October 2006. Online. Journal Article. Internet. http:// www.artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=2124 (April 4, 2008) Howard, Rob, Gouache For Illustration, New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 1993 King, Mike. Concerning the Spiritual in Art and Science. 1996. Online. Journal Article. Internet. http://jnani.org/mrking/writings/ essays/essaysukc/download/Csasukc.doc (April 6, 2008) Krause, Jim. Color Index. Cincinnati: F + W Publications, 2002 Parramn, Jos M. Color Theory. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 1989. Applications and limitations of color theory. 2007. Online. Internet. http://wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=406905 (April 4, 2008) Color Vison & Art. Online. Internet. http://webexhibits.org/colorart (April 4, 2008)

Jusko, Don. Dated History of the Artists, Pigments, Color Theory and Techniques Used Throughout Time. 1996. Online. Internet. http://realcolorwheel.com/1artists.htm (May 2, 2008)
22

Intensity: The strength of a color, especially the degree to which it lacks its complementary color. Chroma, used interchangably with tone, tonal value, value, and intensity. Strength of a color, in terms of darkness or lightness.

Hering Ewald, 1964. Outlines of a Theory of the Light Sense. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.
23

Mudry, Karen M. Biomedical Imaging (Principles and Applications in Engineering). CRC Press, Durham, North Carolina, Chapter 4, page 7.
24

MacEvoy, Bruce, modern color models. handprint: color of theory. 2005. Online. Internet. http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/color7. html (May 2, 2008)
25

Bauhaus. 2005. Online. Internet. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauhaus (May 2, 2008)

26

Johannes Itten. 2005. Online. Internet. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Johannes_Itten (May 2, 2008)

27

Johannes Ittens Color Contrasts 2007. Online. Internet. http:// www.worqx.com/color/itten.htm (May 2, 2008)
28 29 30

Albers, 3.

Kelly, Rob Roy. Reflections of Josef Albers. Online. Journal Article. Internet. http://www.rit.edu/~rkelly/resources/pdf/03_ped/ ped_alb.pdf (April 4, 2008), 139-140.
31 32

Ibid, 137-138. Ibid, 143.

Saturation: Vividness of hue; degree of difference from a gray of the same lightness or brightness. Also, the relative purity of a color. Saturation remains relatively unchanged as a hue is mixed with black, but always decreases when it is mixed with white.2

Principles of Color Theory, continued:

Shade: Darkening a hue by mixing in black or a darker hue. Achromatic: Possessing no hue and no saturation (unsaturated). Also known as neutral colors. Includes the whites, blacks, and dark greys and varied only by tints, tones, and shades. Luminance / Value: A measure of the amount of light reflected from a hue. Those hues with a high content of white have a higher luminance or value. Transparency: The degree to which a color allows light to pass through it and reflect back the color beneath it. Adding white to any color reduces its transparency. Opacity: The opposite of transparency. The degree to which light is prevented from passing through. Undertone: Bias toward another color. Temperature: Half of the color wheel--from red to yellow-green--is considered warm.

Color Schemes using the color wheel

History of Color Theory:

The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle contended there were seven colors: white, yellow, red, purple, green, blue, and black. All other colors could be made by adding either black or white. Though unproven until the seventeenth century, the alchemists of ancient Greek believed colors came from white light. This was a prevailing theory among artists; it is an example how observation through real-world experience led artists to mostly accurate conclusions. In 1651, the Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci wrote in his Treatise on Painting that black and white were colors. He assigned white, yellow, green, blue, red, and black as his primary colors, ranking them in order of importance, associating them with their corresponding earth elements: light, earth, water, air, fire, and darkness.4 Da Vinci wrote direct contrary colors (what would be later known as complementary colors) intensified each other when placed side by side.5 This concept would later be described as simultaneous contrast. Da Vinci also observed atmospheric perspective, the tendency of objects viewed from great distances to become uniform in hue and value.6 Da Vinci did not use intense colors in his Leonardo Da Vincis Mona Lisa paintings but rather focused on light and shadow techniques (chiaoroscuro) as well as sfumato. Sfumato, from the Italian word fumo meaning smoke, is the technique of grading and blending hues to give a hazy and blurry effect.

Considerations and Critique of Color Theory Concepts, continued:

Vision seeks out contrast or novelty. Changes in illumination and changes in season affect color.

Complementary colors: Colors that lie opposite each other on the color wheel. Split Complement: Choosing one color and using the color on each side of its complement on the color wheel. Analogous Colors: Colors that lie beside each other on the color wheel. Diad Colors: Using two colors that are two colors apart on the color wheel.

Triad Colors: A combination of three When considering colors that are equally temperature, it is important to note, that all spaced on the color colors can be seen to have a warm or cool wheel. bias. ...there are also warm blues and cool reds possible within their own hues.3 --Josef Albers, The Interaction of Color. Tetrad Colors: A Also, green and violet are arguably neither combination of four warm or cool; some color theorists leave off colors that are equally these colors as considerations. spaced on the color wheel. Rather than relying on the hues placement in the color wheel, it is more appropriate to consider context when determining if a color is warm or cool.

The other half--from green to red-violet-is considered cool.

In Geromes painting The Grey Cardinal, the figure Monet, Rouen Cathedral, series. in yellow at the top Jean-Leon Gerome, The Grey Cardinal Color can only be understood in terms of its of the stairs interplay with light. has the warmest hue, but it clearly does not advance; moreover, the figure in black Value, not color, is and the two figures in red are obvious the most important foreground elements.44 design element. Here, the The watercolors of cool blues Winslow Homer of the (left) are just as parrots striking in black and clearly white as they are in dominate color.45 the foreground; it is obvious they are in front of Human vision can adjust to changes in the green leaves behind them.44 light and dark. Negative afterimages occur only after prolonged stimulation and do not In this painting by last for more than a few seconds. Ingres, the blue of the dress and the Complementary yellow-gold backing colors are of the chair occupy not always the same visual harmonious. In plane.44 a letter to his brother Theo, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres: Portrait of Princesse de Broglie Van Gogh said of Vincent Van Goghs Night Watch his painting, one of the ugliest (pictures) I have done I In this painting, have tried to express the terrible passions of the cool blues and humanity by means of red and green.46 greys occupy the foreground despite Simultaneous the rich red walls contrast is in the background. affected by Also, the green plant size and by is clearly in front of shape. the red wall.44 Alma-Tademas Confidences Luminance makes lightness and saturation attention getting, not cool/warm colors.

Complementary contrasts do not produce the same vibrating energy.49

Conclusion
It is impossible to teach an experience. Color theory evolved from observational intution to rational conclusions that sometimes contradicted real-world experience. The Bauhaus educators Itten, and to a lesser degree Albers, made color theory accessible to the masses but emphasized rational allor-nothing conclusions through controlled classroom experiments that hindered students later works. Today, Ittens color theory seem better suited for graphic and interior design, where the interplay of environment and perspective is minimal. The Bauhaus influence is obvious in Pop Artist painters
Andy Warhols Marilyn

such as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.

Color theory should not be The Kiss IV abandoned but should instead be tempered with observations of nature, guiding the artist to catch incomplete or inappropriate conclusions. The Bauhaus foundations aid the artist to successful design, but he should not feel restricted by their use when creating or critiquing. To illustrate, there is a growing movement of designers who reject the Bauhaus foundations. Steven Heller, a New York graphic designer, was asked if he studied the color theories of Josef Albers.

Roy Lichtenstein,

Simultaneous contrast is not always effective, Nope. Although I appreciate any particularly when the contrasting elements kind of formal analysis that serves as have the same a touchstone. The famous psychedelic hue and intensity poster artist Victor Moscoso studied with There is dispute what is the warmest hue. (top), or the same Albers at Yale and totally REJECTED his Some say it is red-orange while others say it chroma and intensity ideas, which in turn provided the form is yellow. Once again, context as there is no (bottom).47 Hue language of psychedelic posters.50 universal warm or cool color. frequently describes a sucessful simultaneous In short, remember art and color theory is Warm/cool contrast seems limited to only contrast when intensity or value should be subjective. bright, saturated colors; what of dull colors? attributed.48

Josef Albers, continued:

Albers rigid curriculum affected his instuction of the study of color. In order to avoid the random variables of mixing pigments, Albers worked with cut and torn papers. Each color sheet was numbered and thus results could be standardized. In his discussions with the relationship of shape and color, Albers felt shape should be subjugated because oppositional relationships detract from what is happening with color.32 Albers main theories33 are: Colors shift relative to their backgrounds: a green looks more Top: The inner colors are the yellow on blue, more same but look different. Bottom: The inner colors are blue on yellow.
different but look the same.

soft line. A traditional belief was that cool colors recede and warm colors advance. With the boundary theory, students discovered this was not true -- it was really the boundary lines that determine spatial relationships and not hues.35 ...although a new theory declares warm near and cool far, because the former is of longer and the latter shorter wavelength and they are optically registered in different ways. But optical and perceptual registration are not always parallel.36

It is impossible to create a subtractive color wheel where every color combined with the color opposite it on the wheel will mix to gray. This type of color wheel, which is found in many books for artists, (1) can only be approximate; (2) applies only to complex subtractive mixture, not to color vision; and (3) precludes understanding many other things about color.41 Paint color is affected by water, texture, technique, varnish, and drying agents. Overreliance on the color wheel can lead to inaccurate color design; artists should be more improvisational and therefore mix paints, not colors.42 Saturation has nothing to do with whether or not a color is a primary. In fact, the duller one or more colors are, the duller the mixture. Saturation varies from paint to paint. Primary colors are subjective. Newton was among the first to define primary colors and he defined them as every color in the spectrum, including white. Red, yellow, and blue were defined as primary colors in the eighteenth century; artists prior to that time got along just fine without the concept. Warm colors become more saturated and cool colors become darker and duller when exposed to late afternoon, candle or incandescent light. At noon, however, greens become brighter and violets become duller. Depth perception is not affected by color. Beware of the adage (and one of Ittens theories), warm colors advance, cool colors recede. If a sunset appears behind blue distant mountains, why does the red persist in being optically behind the mountains? A noon blue sky radiates more heat, so why isnt blue warm? Snow is white, why isnt white cool? Why is red warmer than white, if white hot is much hotter than red hot?43 Lightness and saturation explain the mood effects associated with warm or cool colors.

History of Color Theory, continued:

In 1666, Sir Issac Newton conducted his famous experiment proving the origin of color in nature; using a prism, he was able to divide white Sir Issac Newton light into its seven spectral primary hues of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet (ROY G BIV). In 1704, Newton published Opticks, containing his observations on light. In Opticks, Newton described the seven colors in relation to one another using a circular diagram.7 Newton also went on to define the difference between hue, an objects color, and luminosity, the intensity of a colors lightness Newtons Color Wheel or darkness. As a result, Newton rejected the Aristotlean belief that color was a mixture of light and darkness.8 Newtons influence affected and advanced color theory in the early 1700s. In 1702, Robert Boyle wrote red, yellow, and blue were the simple colors.9 Moses Harris wrote The Natural System of Colors in Moses Harris Color Wheel 1766, reiterating red, yellow, and blue as being primary colors or primitives. Harris went on to define the mixture of these primitives as producing compound hues of orange, green, and purple. Harris expanded Newtons color wheel to illustrate the primary colors and secondary colors as

well as their tints, tones, and shades.10 Writing in the 1770s, Jakob Christof Le Blon also believed red, yellow, and blue were primary colors, stating: Painting can represent all visible objects with three colors, yellow, red, and blue: for all these colors can be composd of these three.11 Le Blon went on to define the difference between the material colors of the painter and the impalpable colors of light.12 By the early 1800s, the scientist Thomas Young was able to definitively reconstitute the colors of the spectrum back into white light. Young showed how mixing light was very different from mixing pigments. Green light and red light produced yellow; blue light and green light produced Additive Mixing (top) cyan blue; and red Subtractive Mixing (bottom) light and blue light produced magenta. Frequently taken for granted that the color wheel for light and pigment are the same, Le Blon and Young were among the first color theorists to distinguish the difference between additive mixing (top, mixing color with light) and subtractive mixing (bottom, mixing color with pigment). In 1810, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe published his Theory of Colors. Goethe relied more on observation and conjecture than the scientific method. Consequently, Goethes explorations continue to be controversial and ridiculed. Irritated Newton had excluded many subjective color experiences such as transparency and aftermages, Goethe frequently attacked Newtons color theory, which he called an old nest of rats and owls.13

Goethe resurrected Aristotles belief that color results when light mixes with dark. Yellow is a light which has been dampened by darkness; Blue is a darkness weakened by the light.14 Despite informal observations and frequent speculation, Goethe progresses color theory with his proposal of a symmetric six-color, color wheel. Goethe writes, The chromatic circle... [is] arranged in a general way according to the natural order... for the colours diametrically opposed to each other in this diagram are those Goethes Color Wheel which reciprocally evoke each other in the eye. Thus, yellow demands violet; orange, blue; red, green; and vice versa: thus... all intermediate gradations reciprocally evoke each other; the simpler colour demanding the compound, and vice versa.15 Though the theory of complementary contrasts was well known and described several times prior (da Vinci, Moses Harris, etc), Goethe is successful in popularizing it. Goethe also studied afterimages. Goethe drew the Picture of a Girl in Reverse Colors after gazing at a girl in a pub and then looking at a Goethes Picture of a Girl in Reverse Colors wall. He observed a black face surrounded by white with each of the complementary colors in his gaze being reversed.16

Considerations and Critique of Color Theory Concepts

If we accept that human vision can distinguish as many as a million unique colors, then our lexicon codes less than a fraction of 1% of that diversity. This means that color terms inherently carry a stupefying level of imprecision: we cannot expect to request a white paint and buy a color that will actually match our walls.37 Language is imprecise and distorts our view of color. ...a red wine, a red sunset, and a red face are not at all the same color.38

Similar colors next to each other will have soft edges that blur. Saturated complementary colors next to each other will have hard edges that vibrate. Ambient and reflected light alters color perception. Psychological associations with different colors are situation specific.

The picture looks like four different colored squares with a transparent folded square on top of them. The transparency is actually just different blocks of color that are just slightly different then their sorroundings, placed on top of the squares. Ultimately you have to remember that color is absolute and that it is always relative to its surroundings.34

It is often rare to match an objects color from memory. Artists frequently confuse mixing of light with mixing of pigment. The complements of light and pigment are almost never the same. Additive mixing depends greatly on illumination; subtractive mixing depends greatly on saturation. Paint varies from brand to brand; it is impossible to develop a standard subtractive mixing color wheel because of the variants of pigments in paint. (substance uncertainty)39 Artistic design should focus on effectively mixing the colors we see, not how to mix gray colors from paints. The final product will show no trace of the mixing relationships. As a result, painters should understand the visual color wheel and its complements.40

Albers used the color boundary problem to refute the prevailing theory of warm colors advancing and cool colors receding. When one color butts another color, it forms a line. The line may be soft or hard according to values. Colors that are far apart in value create a hard line; colors that are close in Mark Rothko - Orange and Yellow, 1956 value create a

History of Color Theory, continued:

In 1839, the French chemist Michel-Eugene Chevreul wrote The Law of Simultaneous Color Contrast. Chevreul worked for twenty-eight years at a Michel-Eugene Chevreul textile factory in Paris, where he researched the chemical dyes for use on fabrics and textiles. Chevreul drew from his experiences and developed one of the first studies of color perception, creating a compendium of previous theories of color contrast. Chevreuls main theories are: simultaneous contrast: Two adjacent colours, when seen by the eye, will appear as dissimilar as possible17, or two colors, side by side, interacting with one another and thus changing its overall perception. The contrast is greatest when the two colors are complementary. successive contrast: negative afterimages.
Staring at the apple and then looking at a white wall will create an afterimage of the apple with more appropriate colors.

look brightest which is against the darkest background, and black will display itself at its darkest against a background of greatest whiteness. And red will look most fierce against the yellowest background, as do all colors surrounded by their directly contrary color?19 Chevreul frequently referred to additive and subtractive mixing as the same concept, believing primary colors are derived from red, yellow, and blue light. Chevreul believed hue was the most important color attribute20 and used tone (intensity) interchangably with lightness and saturation. 21 Finally, Chevreuls color wheel of twelve hues utlized the wrong complements and thus made mud.22 In 1872, Ewald Hering, a pioneer in understanding how the human eye works, proposed opponent-process color theory. Hering believed the human eye intrepreted color through the use of three opponent channels: red versus green, blue versus yellow, and black versus white (achromatic and detects light-dark variation). Herings model predicted color blindness and explained afterimages.23 Furthermore, Herings theory also accounts for color constancy, a phenomenon in which the perceived color of an object remains unchanged under different ambient light conditions.24 Impressionism, derived from the title of a Claude Monet work, Impression, Sunrise, was a nineteenth century art movement. Impression, Sunrise

The Impressionists relied on optical mixing to quickly capture the essence of their subject, rather than its details. Natural light is emphasized and there is little to no transparency. The Impressionists almost all used impasto, a technique where paint is applied very thickly, often mixed on the canvas itself. Impressionist paintings avoided black paint and instead utilized grays and dark tones produced by mixing complementary colors. First described in 1905, Albert H. Munsell described his color model in the Munsell Book of Color. Designed to describe color for artists and teach color to children,25 Munsell gave equal weight to the color attributes hue, value, and chroma. Munsells Color System Munsells model stressed uniformity, allowed for accurate complementary colors, and developed a system to find and replicate colors using a color sample chart.

Johannes Itten
Johannes Itten was one of the first instructors at the Bauhaus. Itten was a follower of Mazdaznan, a religious health movement focusing on breathing, vegetarian diet, colonic irrigation, and body culture. Johannes Itten Throughout his stay at the Bauhaus, Itten became increasingly radical with his following of Mazdaznan, appearing in class with a shaven head, crimson robe, and demanding his students practice its precepts. Ittens eccentric behavior alienated his pupils and contemporaries, eventually leading to his forced resignation from the Bauhaus.27 Ittens main theories of color contrast28 are: Contrast of saturation: juxtaposition of more or less saturated colors.

If one says Red (the name of a color) and there are fifty people listening, it can be expected that there will be fifty reds in their minds. And one can be sure that all these reds will be very different. Even when a certain color is specified which all listeners have seen innumerable times --- such as the red of the Coca-Cola, the same red all over the country -- they will still think of many different reds.

Even if all the listeners have hundreds of reds in front of them from which to choose the Coca-Cola red, they will again select quite different colors. And no one can be sure that he has found the precise red shade. And even if that round red Coca-Cola sign with the white name in the middle is actually shown so that everyone focuses on the same red middle, each will perceive the same projection on his retina but no one can be sure wheher each has the same projection.29 -- Josef Albers, Interaction of Color

Contrast of complements: formed by the juxtaposition of color wheel or perceptual opposites.

Josef Albers
Josef Albers was also an instructor at the Bauhaus. Unlike previous color theorists, Albers is an accomplished teacher. Josef Albers Albers was extremely rational in his approach....The implications of Albers view are that artists work with objectives in mind, and they do not meander aimlessly in a purely reactive [emotional] manner.... Albers explained to our class one time, that in order to be a good teacher, you had to be a good actor. There would be times in dealing with students when you might be extremely angry with a student, but it was a time to speak softly and be encouraging. Likewise, there might be an instance where it was in the best interest of the student to affect great anger even though you felt none....Albers often commented that when students can anticipate a teacher, much of that teachers effectiveness as an instructor is lost.30 Albers encouraged his students to explore color effects on their own, allowing the student to teach themselves. As previously stated, Albers approach was extremely rational. He threatened students with hell and damnation...if they had doodles, phone numbers, cartoons, messages, or anything other than serious sketching31 in their sketchooks. He did not like crumpled or dirty pages, banned charcoal drawings, and demanded his student only work with sharpened pencils.

Each one of the three horizontal center bars is of one single color only. Due to the surrounding colors that impression is changed.

Simultaneous contrast: contrast formed when adjacent hues perceptually vibrate as they optically mix.

The Bauhaus
In 1919, the Bauhaus school was founded in the Weimar Republic, occuring just after Germanys defeat in World War I. Through this climate of political and cultural upheaval, art was to become available to anyone without the class distinctions which raise an arrogant barrier between craftsman and artist.26 Art became increasingly industrial, functional and mass produced. The Bauhaus rejected the emotional subjectivity of the Impressionists and demanded art be expressed in objective rational terms. German expressionists, such as Paul Klee and Wasily Kandinsky, continued to flourish and taught their techniques in the new school. Since one of the chief aims of the Bauhaus was to make art available to everyone and since German industry was preparing for the coming war, classrooms were needed to educate the new Bauhaus students. Contrast of light and dark: contrast formed by light and dark values. (Could also be an achromatic composition). Contrast of hue: juxtaposition of colors at their most intense.

mixed contrast: afer two colors are viewed one after another, the second color is mixed with the negative afterimage of the first color. dull or near neutral colors will make saturated colors more intense.18 Chevreuls observations were riddled with mistakes and not groundbreaking as color theorists as early as Aristotle were aware of Chevreuls concepts. Da Vinci writes in 1651, Of colors of equal lightness, that will

Impressionist technique celebrates light and water, ordinary subject matter, and emphasizes human perceptions and experiences.

Contrast of extension or contrast of proportion: based on the relative areas of two or more areas of color, such as large and small, or much and little.

Contrast of warm and cool: juxtaposition of hues that are considered warm or cool. The claim that warm colors advance and cool colors recede was advanced by Itten.

Monets Waterlilies