Paul Glover

Here I am on Vancouver Island, (been here for awhile now but since COVID-19) & stuck at home more often now. So I'm updating my old skills.

I started working these pages about March 2020 and
since then they are being updated as shown: Nov/19/2021

3 Color Theories: RYB, RGB, CMY(K). + Color Combinations: Monochromatic, Analogous, Complementary, Triadic, Split Complementary, Tetradic, Square.

The RYB Color Wheel
RYB color wheel There's lots of information on color ...
from many, color logical ways of thinking!

  • The color system used when
    producing colors by light (RGB)
  • The color system used when
    printing (CMY)K
  • The color system used by
    artist and painters (RYB)
... but RYB is best when designing for a website or trying to find a color scheme that looks good:..

The 3 primary colors are Red, Yellow, and Blue.
The 3 secondary colors: Orange, Green, Purple.

Red and Yellow = Orange
Yellow and Blue = Green
Blue and Red = Purple.
The tertiary colors
are made by mixing two secondary colors.


This div box (and the next one over) is using:
w3color.js and ( data-w3-color="R50,50%,0" ).

This div box is using a CSS gradient:
background:
linear-gradient(to bottom, #33ccff 0%, #ff99cc 100%);

There's lots of information on color ...
from many color logical ways of thinking!

Gradients can be produced (like this one) at w3schools.com.

So, speaking of gradients and color combinations, there is much information on how to choose a good color scheme.

. . .

The RGB Color Wheel of light ...
RGB color wheel
The RGB (Red, Green, Blue) color wheel represents
the 3 light sources used to produce colors on a TV or computer screen.

By mixing primary colors (R,G,B):
Red and Green= Yellow
Green and Blue = Cyan
Blue and Red = Magenta


The CMY(K) Color Wheel - (the printers color wheel)
RGB color wheel
(Cyan, Magenta, Yellow) represent
the colors used to print on paper.
'K' is used because it's the last letter of the word "Black".

The CMYK model works by partially or entirely masking colors on a lighter, usually white, background. The ink reduces the light that would otherwise be reflected. Such a model is called subtractive because inks "subtract" the colors red, green and blue from white light. White light minus red leaves cyan, white light minus green leaves magenta, and white light minus blue leaves yellow.

. . .

Information on this page...

.. not only explains Color, but also
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) when viewing source code.

The background gradient for this box stretches
all the way to the bottom, as more information is added.


Avatar

RGB vs
(CMY)K

In additive color models, such as RGB, white is the "additive" combination of all primary colored lights, while black is the absence of light.

In the CMYK model, it is the opposite: white is the natural color of the paper or other background, while black results from a full combination of colored inks. To save cost on ink, and to produce deeper black tones, unsaturated and dark colors are produced by using black ink instead of the combination of cyan, magenta, and yellow.

CMYK color wheel

Cyan and Magenta = Blue
Magenta and Yellow = Red
Yellow and Cyan = Green.
And all three colors = Black.

. . .

Color Combinations or Schemes that look good together

Monochromatic

CMYK color wheel

Monochromatic schemes
use different tones from the same angle on the color wheel (the same hue).

Analogous

CMYK color wheel

Analogous color schemes
are created by using colors that are
next to each other
on the color wheel.

Complementary

CMYK color wheel

Complementary schemes
are created by combining colors from
opposite sides of the color wheel.


Triadic

Triadic color wheel

Triadic schemes are made up of hues equally spaced around color wheel.

Compound (aka Split Complementary) Color Scheme

Split Complementary color wheel

Compound schemes are almost the same as complementary schemes.
Instead of using colors that are opposites,
it uses colors on both sides of the opposite hue.

Tetradic Color Scheme

Tetradic color wheel

Tetradic or double complementary colors uses four colors together, in the form of two sets of complementary colors.