THEORIES OF LIGHT &

COLOR
VISUAL TECHNIQUESS 2 – ARCHITECTURAL VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS 4
 TWO BASIC WAYS OF
MIXING COLORS
• ADDITIVE COLOR
 Optical Mixing of Light
 Adding 3 light beams : RED , GREEN and BLUE
 Mixing the light of different wavelength not mixing of
pigments

• SUBTRACTIVE COLOR
 Mechanical stirring pigmentation mixing basic colors
Absorption of subtraction of certain wavelength from white
light
 COLOR COMPOSITION
AND SCHEMES

• COLOR WHEEL
 Basic tool for combining colors
First circular color diagram , design by SIR ISAAC NEWTON

 COLOR HARMONIES / COLOR CHORDS

• Color combinations that are considered especially pleasing
• Consist of 2 or more colors with a fixed relation in color wheel
 COLOR COMPOSITION
AND SCHEMES
 PRIMARY COLOR
• Red , Yellow , Blue

 SECONDARY COLOR
• Green , Orange , Purple

TERTIARY COLOR
• Red Purple , Blue Purple ,
• Blue Green, Yellow Green,
• Orange Yellow, Orange Red
 COLOR COMPOSITION
AND SCHEMES

 WARM COLORS
• Vivid and Energetic
• Tend to advance space

 COOL COLORS
• Green , Orange , Purple

 NEUTRAL COLORS
• White , Black and Gray
 COLOR COMPOSITION
AND SCHEMES
 TINT
• Adding WHITE to pure HUE

 SHADE
• Adding BLACK to pure HUE

 TONE
• Adding GRAY to pure HUE

 VALUE
• Lightness and Darkness of the Color
 COLOR COMPOSITION
AND SCHEMES
• COLOR SCHEME / COLOR
HARMONIES
 Basic technique for creating a
color combinations

 COMPLEMENTARY COLOR
SCHEME
• Colors that are opposite to
each other on CW

ANALOGOUS COLOR SCHEME

• Colors that are next to each
other
 COLOR COMPOSITION
AND SCHEMES
 TRIADIC COLOR SCHEME
• Colors that are evenly
spaced around the CW

SPLIT- COMPLEMENTARY
COLOR SCHEME
• Variation of
Complementary color
scheme
 COLOR COMPOSITION
AND SCHEMES
 RECTANGULAR (TRETRADIC)
COLOR SCHEME
• Use 4 colors arranged into
complementary pairs

SQUARE COLOR SCHEME

• Use 4 colors spaced
evenly around the CW
 COLOR COMPOSITION
AND SCHEMES

 WARM COLORS
• Vivid and Energetic
• Tend to advance space

 COOL COLORS
• Green , Orange , Purple

 NEUTRAL COLORS
• White , Black and Gray
 LIGHT , SHADES AND
SHADOW IN COLOR

 COLOR OF SHADOW
• Formed from colored surface plus opposite color to light
color plus original object color

GENERAL RULES IN THE CASE OF LIGHT AND SHADOW COLOR:

• Complementary color harmonize
• If light color is warm – yellow , orange and red, -shadows
should be cool – blue , purple or cyan
• On contrary, if lighting is cool – cyan, blue and etc., - shadow
should be warm such as yellow , orange and etc.
LIGHT , SHADES AND
SHADOW IN COLOR
LIGHT , SHADES AND
SHADOW IN COLOR
COLOR TECHNIQUE
APPLICATION
VISUAL TECHNIQUESS 2 – ARCHITECTURAL VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS 4
 WATERCOLOR

• WATERCOLOUR
 British English; see spelling
differences
also aquarelle(French,
diminutive of
Latin aqua "water")
a painting method in which
the paints are made
of pigments suspended in a
water-based solution.
 WATERCOLOR
 5 BASIC WATERCOLOR TECHNIQUE

1. WET ON WET
 method is typically used for painting
landscapes, simple skies, or soft
watercolor washes because the
effect gives us a nice flowy look that
can be applied in different ways.

 Basically, adding WET paint to a WET

surface.
 WATERCOLOR
 5 BASIC WATERCOLOR TECHNIQUE

2. WET ON DRY
 used to achieve more precise and
defined shapes. This is the
technique . In general, most
illustration-style watercolors are
achieved using wet paint over a dry
area.

 Basically, adding WET paint to a DRY

surface.
 WATERCOLOR
 5 BASIC WATERCOLOR TECHNIQUE

3. BUILDING UP COLORS
 Building up color from plain water
to a saturated paint mix.
 Using just one color to achieve
different values, looking to create a
seamless effect, popularly known as
“ombré.”

 Basically, painting a one color to

create a shadow scheme;
combination of wet and wet – wet
and dry technique
 WATERCOLOR
 5 BASIC WATERCOLOR TECHNIQUE

4. CREATING GRADIENTS
 thisactivity is similar to building up
color, but instead of working with
plain water and different values of
one color, it will be with two colors
and slowly transitioning from one to
the other. It’s a great technique for
painting skies and sunsets.

 Basically, painting a color wheel,

analogous scheme
 WATERCOLOR
 5 BASIC WATERCOLOR TECHNIQUE

5. GETTING PRECISE
 This activity is a simple way to
practice painting around edges of
shapes in a controlled way.

 Basically, learning to control your

hands from edges
 WATERCOLOR
 5 BASIC WATERCOLOR TECHNIQUE
 WATERCOLOR
 WASH TECHNIQUE ( WET ON WET )

The sky is richly blue overhead. As the sky approaches the horizon, it
becomes lighter and warmer. This can be rendered with a graded wash.
The mixture should be liquid, not thick like a paste.
WATERCOLOR
 WATERCOLOR
 WASH PAINT