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THE COLOUR APPEAL
..The appeal of colour is universal. We have an abundance of colour in nature, still virtually in every man-made article, we want colours. Hence colour becomes very important in custom decorating. A little understanding of colours can go a long way in making proper decisions.
..Fabric has been coloured for centuries. Until the mid-nineteenth century, all dyes were obtained from natural sources; but now synthetic dyes have constantly been developed and explored. Simply defined, dyes are natural or man-made organic substances that add colour to fibres and yarns and grey goods. As a matter of fact, colour may be applied to textiles at almost any stage of manufacture, from fibre to finished goods.
..Colours offer enormous design potential; and fabrics, through the patterns, hues and tones are a great source for colours. Colours may also create psychological or emotional responses.
THE THREE DIMENSIONS OF COLOUR:
1. HUE - A hue identifies a colour by name. i.e. Red, Yellow, Blue etc. but it does not tell you whether a colour is light or dark and weak or strong. Hue is important because of its psychological impact on the viewer.
- Yellows and Oranges are associated with sunshine and warmth and are considered cheerful colours.
- Red associated with fire, blood, etc. is usually considered a violent and exciting colour.
- Blue as a cool colour is considered serene.
- Green is restful whereas Violet is mysterious.
- White appears to make things look bigger.
- Black appears to reduce the size of the object.
- Grey seem to be the neutralizing colour.
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| ..Hues such as Red orange and Yellow are considered warm hues, whereas Blue violet and Green are considered cool hues. Warm colours seem to make objects appear larger and nearer to the observer while cool hues seem to make them smaller and farther away. But if white or black is added to the warm colours, for example, to turn Red colour into Pink or Brown - then depending on the value and intensity of the colour the psychological effect will become different. The object will not appear larger and nearer. The same holds true for cool colours. |
2. INTENSITY - It is the purest form of colour without any greyness added to it to make it dull. For example, a blue as a primary colour is in its full intensity whereas sky blue is not.
3. VALUE - The third dimension known as value locates a colours’ approximate position in relation to white or black. In other words, value is the lightness or darkness of a colour. Hence, every colour has a long range of values. The value of any colour can be made lighter by the addition of white or a lighter colourant; called tints. Colours which are made darker in value by the addition of black or a darker colourant are called shades.
..Both tints and shades which represent distinct changes in the value dimensions of a colour also tend to reduce the intensity of a colour. A light colour such as yellow is high in value (closer to white) and a dark colour such as Violet or Blue is low in value (closer to Black). Strong value contrast has a tremendous power of attracting attention, and, if not used wisely produces a very restless and confusing effect. Close values are restful.
COLOUR THEORY:
..The simplest and most widely accepted colour mixing theory is shown in a colour wheel. It is based on the principle of three pure colours which are Yellow, Blue and Red, known as primary colours.
PRIMARY COLOURS - They cannot be produced by mixing any colour, even though every other colour is made by mixing two or more of these and their produced colours in different proportions.
SECONDARY COLOURS - Orange (Red + Yellow); Violet (Blue + Red); Green (Yellow + Blue) are secondary colours. They are opposite to primary colours on a colour wheel hence are also complementary or contrasting to primary colours. Any colour that falls opposite to a particular colour on the colour wheel is the contrasting colour for that colour.
Example:
Yellow and Violet - Are contrasting to each other.
Red and Green - Are contrasting to each other.
Blue and Orange - Are contrasting to each other.
INTERMEDIATE COLOURS - All the additional hues which fall between the Primary and Secondary colours around the circle are known as Intermediate colours and can be produced by the mixture of adjoining primary and secondary colours.
COLOUR SCHEMES:
1. MONOCHROMATIC - This is a scheme where a single colour or hue is used. The harmony and variety is produced by varying the values and intensity of that single colour to make it more interesting. A monochromatic colour scheme can make a smaller room appear larger and also can give the effect of peace and quiet.
2. ADJACENT OR ANALOGOUS - This is a scheme where neighbouring or adjacent colours are used. Ex. yellow orange, red orange, orange - from the colour wheel. They are usually most harmonious when they are limited to those colours falling between two primary colours on the colour wheel. Analogous harmonies are normally either in the warm colour groups or the cool colour groups. Hence, this scheme can be made into a loud or vibrant scheme (warm colour) or can be given a quiet and restful atmosphere (cool colours). Interest is provided through the changes of values and intensities and a variety of textures.
3. COMPLEMENTARY - These are the colours that fall directly opposite to primary colours on the colour wheel. Combinations of opposite colours are more difficult to use and can be pretty vibrant and loud at times.
4. SPLIT COMPLEMENTARY - In this case, the colours on either side of the opposite hues are used with the first hue. Ex. with Red, (instead of complementary green), yellow green and blue green are used. This softens the colour scheme somewhat.
5. DOUBLE COMPLEMENTARY - In this case, two adjacent colours and their complements or opposites are used. Ex. Instead of Red, red orange and red violet are used with yellow green and blue green, (instead of green). It can present a pretty colourful but less violent scheme.
6. TRIAD - The three hues that will fall on the points of an equilateral triangle placed on a colour wheel, will form this colour scheme. Ex. Red/Blue/Yellow or Orange/Violet/Green or Yellow orange/red violet/blue green etc. Triads are the richest of all harmonies, and require the utmost care and can be very explosive.
..It can be summarized by saying that a good understanding of different properties of colour and colour schemes, their psychological effect on our mind and their endless combinations for decorating definitely plays a major role in custom decorating.
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