All About Color
 

Color. Fascinating. How do we see color? What IS color? Why do people sometimes see things as different colors even though they're looking at the same object? All good questions. Let's attack the question "What is color?"

Artsparx - http://www.artsparx.com/color_basicprinc.asp gives us the best explanation I found:

Daylight (white light) is made up of numerous waves or impulses each having different dimensions or wavelengths. When separated, any single wavelength will produce a specific color impression to the human eye. What we actually see as color is known as its color effect. When an object is hit (bombarded) with light rays, the object absorbs certain waves and reflects others, this determines the color effect.

For example, what we actually see when we observe a blue ball is that the ball appears blue because it reflects only blue light and absorbs all other light. 

The ball does not have color in itself. The light generates the color. What we see as color is the reflection of specific wavelength of light rays off an object.

The color white: If all light waves are reflected from a surface the surface will appear to be white. 

The color black: Similarly, when all light waves are absorbed by a surface the surface will appear to be black. 

Now that we know what color is, let's talk about colors specifically - the color wheel.

The primary colors on the color wheel are blue, yellow, and  red.
The secondary colors are those you can make using two primary colors. Those would be green, orange, and violet (purple).
On your basic 6-color wheel the colors are laid out so that there is a secondary color between each two primary colors, like this: blue, green, yellow, orange, red, violet.
The tertiary colors are those made from a primary and a secondary: blue green, yellow green, blue violet, red violet, red orange, yellow orange. Some people call this the intermediate group and the tertiary as those made by combining two secondary colors. Either way, you're combining colors to make new colors. These colors are shown above in the 12-color wheel. Remember that computer colors might not be exactly accurate.

Those numbered 1 in the above picture are the primary, 2 the secondary, and 3 the tertiary colors. You can expand this wheel to as many colors as you want. The largest wheel I saw in my wanderings had 36 colors. Of course, these are all shades of the original three.

There are many different ways to use the color wheel to help you decide on the color scheme for your afghan - or anything else you need to decorate.

Here are a few, along with some sites you can visit for more information.

All in the family - Some people call this monochromatic. :-) These are similar colors which are side by side on the color wheel - like three shades of red.

Won't you be my neighbor? - For this you need a bigger color wheel than the basic dozen colors. You choose 7 adjoining colors, then choose three colors from the seven and use those. For example, in Red Heart Super Saver yarn (since this IS a crochet site *grin*)  you find these colors:
0380 Windsor Blue
0381 Light Blue
0382 Country Blue
0384 Skipper Blue
0385 Royal
0387 Soft Navy
0388 Teal

See how the color numbers are close? That may not always be the case, but many times it is and you can use that to help figure out "families" of colors. So, in this grouping of 7 colors, I might choose Windsor Blue, Country Blue and Soft Navy as the colors to use in my afghan.

Analogous - This is a variation of the neighbor method. You use the colors that are close together on the wheel.

Opposites Attract (Also known as Complementary) -  You'll certainly get the compliments if you use this method. Choose colors that are directly across from one another on the color wheel, such as red and green, blue and orange, yellow and violet. Variations of the complementary theme are explained quite well, with pictures, here http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/teach/floral/color.htm . One variation is to use three or four colors that are evenly spaced from one another on the wheel. 

Switzerland - Okay, this is not really called Switzerland. I'm just being cute. These are the neutral colors, shades of white, gray or beige, also black, tan, brown. Also called the earth tones. Say you want to use one color as your main color and mix it up with a variety of other colors. You might choose white because it's neutral and would go with anything else you use. Black is also used often in this manner.

Monotone - This has to do with the brightness or intensity of the colors rather than the colors themselves. For example, using all pastels or all bright colors. In other words, you use colors with the same tone. (Get it? Mono = one, tone)

How do you feel? - Mr. Spock's computer (and his mom) asked him this. But I digress. Colors can be warm or cool. The reds are warm (red, orange, yellow). Think fire. The blues are cool (blue, violet, green). Think ocean. Also, in regards to feeling, dark colors usually are warmer and light colors cooler in clothing, so why not in yarn? And why IS that? Well, it's because the light wave energy is converted into heat when absorbed. As Artsparx told us above, we see white when all the waves are reflected, so that would be cooler. Black absorbed the light so the more that is absorbed the hotter it would be, right? You can find numerous sites that will tell you what each color is supposed to represent. We usually associate purple with royalty for example.

Here's a small portion of what Crayola.com says about blue, my favorite color:

Personality Traits
calm, relaxed, loyal, soothing, tranquility, peace, confident, serene, purity, gentleness, infinity, strength, reliability, healing, patience, truth, devotion, honor, sincerity, wisdom, security

Cultural Meanings
To the Cherokee Indians, blue represented failure or disappointment. They would imagine themselves red, and pray for the enemy to become blue and walk in a blue path.

Fun Facts
In karate the blue belt represents the blue sky and a plant (student) growing toward it. The sky light feeds the plant (student) and it continues to grow. Blue belt students enhance physical skills and promote mental growth.

So, there you have it, color. I'm going to use all this newfound information to create a new afghan. The Color Wheel Afghan. I actually did use the color wheel to create an afghan many years ago. Here's a peek at it.

I promised you links, so here they are.

Need some help with your color scheme? Try these:
 

Color Scheme Online  http://www.colorschemer.com/online.html

The Color Schemer  http://www.rentadabo.nl/~english/colorschemer.htm

Here are some other sites on color I found most helpful: 

Bartleby  http://www.bartleby.com/61/charts/A4color.html

Scribbles Kid's Art  http://www.scribbleskidsart.com/generic.html?pid=84

Sherwin-Williams http://www.sherwin-williams.com/DIY/interior/colorselect/confidence/dwc4.asp

Floral Art http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/teach/floral/color.htm

Crayola http://www.crayola.com

    
08/12/2005

The buttons above were my first at the Cabana. I keep them for sentimental reasons. :-)

NOTICE: Someone is using my old e-mail address to send out SPAM. Please note that if you receive any e-mail from crochetcabana@startrekmail.com it is NOT from me. I no longer use this account and, to my knowledge, it has been discontinued.