Complementary color facts for kids
Complementary colors are pairs of opposite colors. What is meant by opposite can be different between color science, and art and the printing process.
Color science
In color science "complementary colors" are colors opposite to each other on the color wheel. Primary colors and secondary colors are typically paired in this way:
- red and cyan ( red cyan ) (where cyan is the mixture of green and blue)
- green and magenta ( green magenta ) (where magenta is the mixture of red and blue)
- blue and yellow ( blue yellow ) (where yellow is the mixture of red and green)
Afterimages
If a person stares at a single color for about a minute then looks at a white surface, an afterimage of the complementary color will appear. This is because of eye fatigue. For example, if the person stares at a red color, the photoreceptors (cells in the eye which catch colored light) for red light in the retina (the back part of the eye) become fatigued. When photoreceptors are fatigued they are less able to send information to the brain. If the person then looks at white light, all photoreceptors will send information. Because the photoreceptors for red light are fatigued, the information they send will not be as strong as the information about the colors other than red and the illusion of seeing the complementary color is created.
Art and design
Because of the limited range of colors that was available throughout most of the history of art, many artists still use a traditional set of complementary pairs, including:
The complement of each primary color (red, blue, or yellow) is roughly the color made by mixing the other two in a subtractive system (red + blue = purple; blue + yellow = green; red + yellow = orange). When two complements are mixed they produce a gray or brown.
The use of complementary colors is an important aspect of art and graphic design. This also extends to other fields such as contrasting colors in logos and retail display. When placed next to each other, complements make each other appear brighter. On an artistic color wheel, complementary colors are placed opposite one another. Although these artistic complements may not be precise complements under the scientific definition, most artistic color wheels are laid out roughly like the HSV color wheel discussed above.
Images for kids
-
The HSV color wheel has the same complementary colors as the RGB color model, but shows them in three dimensions.
-
A chart of color combinations.
-
Newton's color circle (1704) displayed seven colors. He declared that colors opposite each other had the strongest contrast and harmony.
-
A Boutet color circle from 1708 showed the traditional complementary colors; red and green, yellow and purple, and blue and orange.
-
The color wheel designed by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1810) was based on the idea that the primary colors yellow and blue, representing light and darkness, were in opposition to each other.
-
Impression, Sunrise by Claude Monet (1872) featured a tiny but vivid orange sun against a blue background. The painting gave its name to the Impressionist movement.
-
Oarsmen at Chatou by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1879). Renoir knew that orange and blue brightened each other when put side by side.
-
In this self-portrait (1889), Vincent van Gogh made the most of the contrast between the orange of his hair and the blue background.
-
Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh (1889) features orange stars and an orange moon.
-
The Night Café by Vincent van Gogh (1888) used red and green to express what van Gogh called "the terrible human passions".
-
Orange life rafts provide the highest contrast and visibility seen against blue water.
-
Red and cyan glasses are used for viewing Anaglyph 3D three-dimensional images on the Internet or in print.
-
This image, viewed with red and cyan Anaglyph 3D glasses, will appear in three dimensions.
_check_life_rafts_for_survivors_Sept._6,_2009_following_the_sinking_of_a_Philippine_super_ferry.jpg)
See also
In Spanish: Colores complementarios para niños
