Two- Dimensional Design Instructor: Eric Hunter

Email: [email protected]
Office hours Tuesdays & Thursdays before and after class or by appointment

Color Theory Coloring Book

Reading assignment: Creative Color: A dynamic approach for artists and designers, by
Faber Birren, pages 12 – 21. See Blackboard for a Word.doc copy of the reading.

Supporting information
Creative Color, by Faber Birren
Interaction of Color, by Josef Albers
Color: A Natural History of the Palette, by Victoria Finlay
A Color Notation, by Albert Henry Munsell
The Elements of Color: A Treatise on the Color System of Johannes Itten
Based on Itten’s book, The Art of Color
Design and form: the basic course at the Bauhaus, by Johannes Itten

Objectives
1. Successfully mix color with gouache/acrylic paint and apply it to Rives BFK
2. Improve your ability to think in color specifics, mix color systematically and accurately,
and be able to see color and mix to match it.
3. Apply color theory and ideas in this project to paper through mixing colors
4. Know how to translate between color as mixed on the palette, and the color as it appears
when dry on white paper.
5. Utilize studio skills in organizing of the individual color projects into an accordion book
that unfolds into a poster.
6. Draw and execute a simple design using the various color concepts described below.

Materials and Supplies

1. Paint: Turner Acryl Gouache Set of 6 (black, white, red, yellow, blue, green)*
2. Mixing tray: art stores have these or you may use an old white plate (We have several used
palettes at school that you can use for class, but they cannot go home with you
3. Paint Brushes (double check your materials sheet for what you need)
4. 2 Sheets of Rives BFK 22 x 30 in. paper at 250 Grams weight.
One will be used as your paint surface, and the other for the accordion folded book that
will hold all of your designed and painted color projects.
5. Bone folder (Wake Tech has bone folders available for use in class)

Procedure
Accurately portray the Color Categories

1. Take one 22 x 30-inch piece of Rives BFK and cut one inch off the short side. The final sheet
full sheet will be exactly 21 x 30 inches. Fold it very carefully into thirds in both directions (see
illustration below). The more accurate you are with your measuring, cutting, and folding the more
even and polished your book will be when you are finished.

Using the bone folder, to create nice sharp creases along your fold and cut lines. Once you have
made all of your folds with sharp, crisp creases cut along the line marked with magenta arrows
with scissors. Again, cut slowly and with care to maintain accuracy.

*
Set is about 12.99 at Jerry’s Artarama (On sale $9.99)
 Two- Dimensional Design
Instructor: Eric Hunter
Email: [email protected]
Office hours Tuesdays & Thursdays before and after class or by appointment

Color Theory Book Page 1

Monochromatic Design Reflecting the Color Triangle Diagram (Tints, Tones, and Shades)

1. First, you will make a diagram that looks very similar to the monochromatic triangle below.
This will be the first page of your Color Theory Coloring Book. Create a color triangle using one
primary color (see illustration below): The color triangle will represent all of the chosen primary
color seen by the eye (Birren 1961). Then simply follow the pattern of the triangle, which sets the
color in question at one corner, where the white, gray, and black circles act as the color’s
hypotenuse.

2. Monochromatic Color
Next mix three tints (instead of the one tint that you see in the triangle below), A range of three
grays for your middle tone line which ends in gray, and finally a range of three shades of the
chosen color for the shade line of the triangle. This color triangle will take up an entire page.

2
 Two- Dimensional Design
Instructor: Eric Hunter
Email: [email protected]
Office hours Tuesdays & Thursdays before and after class or by appointment

Birren

Extended Color Triangle With a Tonal Emphasis

Color Theory Book Page 2

Monochromatic Color
For your second page, you will create and
execute a design that utilizes what you
learned in the color triangle exercise. You
will be utilizing only your monochromatic
color palette that includes tints, tones, and
shades; the design is up to you. It can be
non-objective, and abstraction, realistic, or
part of a larger design that incorporates the
whole or part of your coloring book.

Color Theory Book Page 3

The Color Wheel (12 Hues)

This exercise needs to be a variation on the 12-step color wheel. You may use Johannes
Itten’s design for the 12-step color wheel (see below), or base your design on any of the
ones that I have shown you in class, or come up with your own take on this classic color
exercise.

3
 Two- Dimensional Design
Instructor: Eric Hunter
Email: [email protected]
Office hours Tuesdays & Thursdays before and after class or by appointment

Constraints
All of the secondary, and tertiary (intermediate) colors must be mixed from the 3 primary
colors. If you have the set of Turner Acryl Gouache, you may not use the green that
comes with the set on this exercise. Take care to make sure you have your colors in the
proper order. The viewer should be able to use your color wheel as a guide to the basic
color concepts (i.e. Complementary color such as blue and orange are directly opposite
each other on your color wheel). You can use any number of tools to make the circle
shape; a compass is probably your best bet. Make the circle as big as you can and still
have it fit on one page of your book. There should also be an effort to show color
hierarchy. If you look at the examples below you will notice that each of the designs
makes an effort to emphasize the most important colors in some way.

Itten’s 12- step color wheel

Color Theory Book Page 4 & 5

Intensity Studies:

Page 4:
For this study, you will use one pair of complementary colors. You will create a diagram that
includes at the very least an eleven-step intensity scale. It is easiest to start by arranging the pure
color swatches at each end of the scale. Then proceed to mix a little bit of one complement into
the other complement so that by the fifth step away from one end you have neutralized both
colors so that neither is dominant. The hue is neither warm nor cold. You will have to mix and
paint more swatches, and then the 11-step scale requires create nine even steps for a proper
intensity scale. You can extend the basic Complementary Color Intensity Scale beyond the basic
11 steps into a more elaborate diagram. The example below is just to show you a couple of
examples of intensity scale diagrams. Remember you need to have at least 11-steps for your
diagram.

Page 5:
You can then apply the constraints of this palette to a simple design or drawing that you have
already made*. Your palette shall consist of the pair of chosen complementary colors and the

4
 Two- Dimensional Design
Instructor: Eric Hunter
Email: [email protected]
Office hours Tuesdays & Thursdays before and after class or by appointment

various intensities, tints, tones, and shades created with your complimentary colors and black and
white. This project will culminate in two pages of your Color Theory Coloring Book, one for the
pure intensity scale diagram, and one for the design utilizing the complementary color pair and it
is inherent range of intensities, tints, tones, and shades.

Color Theory Book Page 6 & 7

Analogous Studies

You can also approach this concept as an exercise in the temperature of color, if you
choose your colors wisely. Analogous hues lie next to each other on the color wheel or

5
 Two- Dimensional Design
Instructor: Eric Hunter
Email: [email protected]
Office hours Tuesdays & Thursdays before and after class or by appointment

circle. They can also be termed as adjacents. One example of adjacent colors is yellow,
yellow-orange and yellow green. One page must consist of a diagram that displays a
basic characteristic of analogous colors.

For this diagram study you have the choice start with a tint/shade scale for each of the 3
or more adjacent colors on page 6, and then use page 7 to carry out a design1* using only
your three analogous colors and their various tints, tones, and shades.

If you would like to emphasize the warm and cool color palettes, do the above exercise
using an analogous set from the warm side of the color wheel, and one from the cool side.

Color Theory Book Page 8

Pure Primary Hues (Triadic Color)

You can use the non-objective drawing exercise to execute this color scheme, or one of
your own original creations. This color scheme will only consist of one page and should
be designed to contain a wide variety of intensity of each color in the triad.

Color Theory Book Page 9

Split Complimentary Color
Again, you may use your non-objective design for this project.

A split complementary color palette consists of three colors, on anchor color and the two colors
that are adjacent to the anchor color’s complement. For example if my anchor color is blue, my
other two colors are yellow-orange and red-orange as they are adjacent to orange (blue’s
complementary color) on the color wheel. There are no scales, triangles, or circles for this
exercise, unless of course they show up in your improvised non-objective drawing. You simply
use the three colors with black and white to develop tints, tones, and shades and then paint your
design.

Color Theory Book Cover

Design and execute a creative and dynamic cover that is thematically appropriate
for this project.

Evaluation Criteria
1. Achieving a broad range of mixed colors within the various color exercises is
paramount:
a. Accuracy mixing and labeling colors according to the categories assigned
b. Ability to achieve the colors desired
c. Demonstrated understanding of color concepts
1
One way to test the effects of color interaction and how color schemes work is to employ one strong
design and applied it to each of the different color schemes. Then, compare the color schemes effect by
studying the effects of each scheme on the master design. This could result in a great demonstration of the
Bezold effect and simultaneous contrast if done well. The non-objective drawing exercise below is a road
map of this example.

6
 Two- Dimensional Design
Instructor: Eric Hunter
Email: [email protected]
Office hours Tuesdays & Thursdays before and after class or by appointment

2. Creativity is still a predominant objective. You are utilizing math and science skills
and synthesizing them creatively into a visual art project. Evaluation is based not only on
your ability to mix and analyze color accurately, to cleanly apply it, but to also create a
series of interesting theoretical color diagrams that in turn achieve a compelling
diagrammatic whole; or an artistic design that considers the whole document when
unfolded. Ideally, your project will achieve both.

3. Craft–– putting down pigment in even bands and keeping edges clean (using the
swatch method will help immensely with this issue); presentation legible, accurate
labeling and accurate folding and cutting of the accordion book, absences of glue smears
and fingerprints; meeting the deadline and finishing all the details of the project on time.

Non-Objective Drawing Exercise

This exercise is an accompaniment to The Color Theory Coloring Book Project. There are several
opportunities for painting designs while designing this project. For the viewer to experience the
full effects of the various color interaction phenomena such as, the Bezold effect, Simultaneous
Contrast, Opponent Theory, color harmonies and disharmonies, various weight and balance
effects, and after-image that can be achieved throughout the manipulation of color alone.

Materials Needed
1. Drawing paper in the same dimension as one page of your Color Theory Coloring Book
2. 2B or softer graphite drawing pencil
3. Straight edge for drawing straight and parallel lines (a metal ruler will do the job)

Drawing Directions
1. Draw one parallelogram contained inside the dimensions of your paper
2. Draw a pair of concentric circles that are not centered in the middle of your drawing paper.
One of the circles must cross over two sides of the previously drawn parallelogram
3. Draw one pair of parallel lines that are exactly the same length and are not parallel in anyway
with the parallelogram
4. Draw a cropped parallelogram that only has 3 corners represented in the drawing space
5. Draw a broken ellipse that runs off the side of the drawing surface on at least one side
6. Draw a set of 3 parallel lines that are unevenly spaced and are each a different length
7. Connect the ends of two lines together, one from each of the two sets of parallel lines, with
and arc or a compound curve (i.e. and ‘S’ shaped curve)
8. If you think you have enough to work with repeat this process at least two more times
changing the size and length of some or all of the steps along the way. Decide if it would be
interesting to more add one more shape or line (your choice) and then go on to step #9

9. Repeat this process at least two more times changing the size and length of some or all of the
steps along the way. Compare the results of your three pure contour line drawings and then
choose the one you like the most for your Color Theory Coloring Book design pages.