Colour Theory: Colour Contrast

We have previously learnt about the contrasts when handling and balancing colour:

Contrast of TONE
Contrast of HUE
Contrast of SATURATION
Contrast of EXTENSION
Contrast of TEMPERATURE
COMPLEMENTARY contrast
SIMULTANEOUS contrast

The 5 coloured pieces of paper are very low in saturation and are quite faded in colour. We placed a few different objects on top of each piece of paper and studied how the colours seemed to be perceived differently each time.

The green clip looked very vivid amongst the orange and red paper, because of the contrast in hue. The contrast of saturation was also a factor.

Orange pen

• reflects the colours - a hint of yellow appears on the green, and turns red on red paper
• looks yellow on the yellow paper
• more saturated on orange

Red pencil

• looks orange on orange paper
• looks dark red on blue paper
• looks bright red on yellow paper

We were set the task of choosing 5 more objects and pantone matching them, then recreating the colour on photoshop.