Itten's 7 contrasts.
There are 7 different colour contrasts, and to see how they actually all work I will do 10 different experiments to see what happens to each colour when changing the background and the object.
Experiment 1;
With this colour experiment I was looking at simultaneous contrast using a yellow object on different coloured backgrounds, this is so that I can see how the colour of the background with effect the way we perceive the yellow object, or to see how the yellow object effects the colour of the background. I found that in a few of these examples, the yellow object changed the way which I see the coloured background.
This is the neutral background, although because of simultaneous contrast I found that the yellow object has brought out the violet in the neutral background, this is because the colours always look for and bring out their complementary colour, therefore yellow would bring out violet, which it has.
The yellow object has brought the violet out in the blue background, also the blue background is bringing out the orange in the yellow, this is because the blue is searching for the orange, and the yellow is searching for the violet.
This is a very light and bright blue background, although on this it looks slightly darker, the yellow object also looks a lot more orange on this background, this is because of simultaneous contrast, as it looks for the complementary colours and brings them out.
This is a grey background, which is why the yellow is bringing out the violet in the grey.
In this example, it looks as if the yellow has been drained out of the object, it looks as if it is slightly green, this is because the background colour is pink which has red in it, therefore it is trying to bring out the green in the yellow as red and green are complementary colours. The yellow object is also making the pink background look as if it is violet.
Experiment 2;
Contrast of hue is formed by the juxtaposing of different hues. The greater the distance between hues on a colour wheel, the greater the contrast. Contrast of tone and hue work together to find the colour that impacts the most. In this experiment I am looking at keeping the green object the same, but changing the backgrounds, this will change the contrast of hue in each different example.
The background for this example is a dark green, and although both the background and the object are green, there is a medium contrast of hue, as the object is a lot lighter than the background, therefore will be quite for away on the wheel.
This has a high contrast of hue as the background colour is pink, and green and pink are quite far away on the colour wheel therefore the object stands out a lot more.
A yellow background with a light green object has a low contrast of hue, as they are not very far away on the wheel, they are both light colours, therefore the object doesn't stand out a lot on the light background.
With a blue background, this has a medium contrast as the colours are not that far away on the colour wheel, although there is still a bit of contrast as the green is quite light and the blue is darker.
Although these colours are quite far way from each other, they are not a high or low contrast, it is medium as the green object doesn't stand out on the background, yet there is a contrast there.
This has a very high contrast of hue as the object is a light green on a black background, they are very far away from each other on the colour wheel.
This has a medium contrast as the violet background is bringing out the yellow in the green object, which stands out a lot on the violet. Although its not high because the violet isn't very dark and neither is the green object.
This has a medium to high contrast of hue as the object stands out a lot on the neutral background, although it would be higher if the green object was darker, as they are both quite light colours.
This has a high contrast as the grey background is quite dark and it is making the object look lighter, and there is a large distance between these colours on the wheel.
There is a very low contrast of hue between the background and the object as they are both similar colours, therefore very close on the colour wheel, which means that the contrast between them is very low.
Experiment 3;
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This colour experiment is looking at
complementary contrast, it is showing how it works by keeping the background
colour the same but changing the coloured object. I have gone from an example
which has a very low complementary contrast to an examples which has a very
high complementary contrast, this is so that I can physically see the changes
in the colour and how it effects the contrast. Starting with a blue object
shows a low contrast as violet and blue are very close to each other on the
colour wheel, therefore they are not close to their complementary, going
through to the yellow which is violets complementary colour, therefore its
contrast is very high.
Experiment 4;
Complementary contrast is formed by juxtaposing complementary colours
from a colour wheel or perceptual opposites. Complimentary colours are
opposite on the colour wheel, they are; Yellow and Violet, Green and
Red, and Blue and Orange. Dairy milk caramel is a perfect example of use
of complementary colours used in branding, although this works really
well together as it is a very established brand and there s a good
balance between the colours, where as you should usually try and avoid
using complementary colours in design, as they don't go with each other
well, they are opposites. These 10 experiments are displaying how much
contrast the objects have on their background as they are their
complementaries.
Experiment 5;
Contrast of saturation is formed by the juxtaposition of light and dark values and their relative saturation. This experiment shows a red object on a red background, and by using the same coloured background for each example yet changing the object, it will demonstrate contrast of saturation. An object is seen as red, because it is the redest red on the page, although when you put that object on a red background, it saturates the colour, so the object may not be the redest red on the page anymore.
Experiment 6;
Contrast of temperature is formed by juxtaposing hues that can be considered 'warm' or 'cool'. Also known as the contrast of warm and cool. Blue is the coolest and orange is the warmest colour this is because blue and orange are complimentary colours. When colours are next to each other they tend to bring out their complementary colour, therefore when colours bring out their complementaries you are able to see more about the contrast of temperature.
Therefor the last two examples in this experiment show (top) a very high contrast of temperature and (bottom) a very low contrast of temperature. This is because orange and blue are complementary colours, they are also the coolest and warmest colours therefore have a high contrast, whereas the red object on the red background is very low, as they are very similar colours and they are both warm therefore have a low contrast.
Experiment 7;
In this experiment I was looking at complementary contrast which is formed by juxtaposing complementary colours from a colour wheel or perceptual opposites.
This has no complimentary contrast as the object is the same colour as the background colour, therefore there is no contrast.
This example has a medium to high complementary contrast as blue and red are not complementary colours although the blue brings out the orange in the red, as a colour always draws out its complimentary colour, therefore this is a medium contrast.
This has a very low complementary contrast as green and blue are close on the colour wheel.
This has a high complementary contrast as the colours are very far away on the colour wheel, also the blue objects makes the yellow background look like it is slightly orange, which is because orange is blues complementary colour.
This has a very low complementary contrast as blue and violet are next to each other on the colour wheel therefore they are nowhere near their complementaries.
This example of complementary contrast is very high, as blues complementary colour is orange, therefore a blue object on an orange backgraound has a very high contrast.
Experiment 8;
This colour experiment is looking at the same red object against the
same neutral background, although the variable which is changing
throughout these 10 examples is the different lighting. What I have seen
during this experiment is how the the colour of the red object changes
when different light is on it. I have also found that depending on the
light, the colour of the background ranges from neutral to blue, this is
because every colour tries to look for its complementary colour,
therefore the red is bringing out the blue on the neutral background,
and in some lights it effects the colours more than others. In this case
the red object is bringing out the blue background more when the
sunlight is on them, therefore the more light there is, the more colour
shows through.
Experiment 9;
Blue is the heaviest and darkest colour on the colour wheel, whereas yellow is the lightest and brightest. In this experiment I will be using yellow and violet as they are complementary colours, yellow is also the lightest colour and as violet is next to blue on the colour wheel it is one of the darkest/heaviest colours on the colour wheel. Contrast of extension is formed by assigning proportional field sizes in relation to the visual
weight of a colour. Also known as the contrast of proportion. Thinking about balancing or imbalancing (something blending in or standing out).
A certain proportion of one colour will balance another, you can use different amounts of each colour to balance them out.
Balanced
Balanced
Unbalanced
Unbalanced
Unbalanced
Balanced
Unbalanced
Unbalanced
Balanced
Unbalanced
