When we look around us, we see that we are surrounded by numerous colors. The magnificence of these colors enlivens our every moment of the day. But when we try to represent our ideas in the form of sketches or drawings, it is really difficult for us to choose a suitable color for specific objects. For this purpose, it is necessary that we understand color theory. These theories can help us understand the mixture of colors to be used.

The color theory first appeared in the writings of Leone B. and the notebooks of L.D.Vinci. However, the traditional theory begins in the 18th century with Isaac Newton’s theory of colors and the nature of the so-called primary colors.

Color theory is formulated in three sets of basic colors:

Red, green, blue

Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black

Yellow, red, blue

Any color can be obtained by mixing the primary colors. For example, violet is obtained by mixing blue and red, orange by mixing yellow and red, or black by mixing red green, and blue.

When it comes to color mixing, Newton’s color wheel is often referred to. Newton’s color wheel is used to describe complementary colors, which are colors that cancel each other’s hue, creating achromatic mixtures that are white gray, or black. The wheel is designed so that colors exactly opposite each other cancel out the shade. And this assumption later turned out to be the basic fact of color vision.

A key assumption in Newton’s color wheel was that the maximum saturated colors are located on the outer circumference of the circle, while achromatic white is in the center. The saturation of a mixture of two colors was predicted by the straight line between them, and a mixture of three colors was predicted by the center of the triangle formed by connecting the points on the wheel.

According to traditional color theory, which is derived from color mixtures, yellow mixed with violet, scarlet mixed with blue, or magenta mixed with green create an equivalent gray and are painterly complementary colors. These contrasts form the basis of color contrast: colors that appear together will be altered as if they were mixed with a complementary color of another color.

Moreover, these color theories are not only used by artisans in works of art but also have a wide range of uses in other fields. Now, while the set of primary colors yellow, red, and blue is used by painters to get different colors and shades, the set of primary colors red, green, and blue is used in electronic media to generate television images or images on our computer screen.

These theories are also used in the press, allowing us to see a blueprint of all the incidents happening around the world in our newspapers. When printing, a circle based on cyan, magenta, yellow, and black is used. In the 20th century, color theory also attempted to associate colors with specific emotional or subjective associations, such as red being a sensual, exciting, feminine color, while blue is contemplative. Thus, colors also have various psychological effects on human beings.

Color theory is still the subject of much debate and research is underway to use color theory in new ways to our benefit.

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