Chromatics:
Theory behind Color Schemes

This site is designed as an aid to teach color schemes. There are as many combinations as there are people in this world, but those combinations will fit within these basic schemes.

* I had started work on this project one afternoon. What inspired me was the website, "http://colorschemedesigner.com". I came up with the name "Chromatics", created the artwork for the header and buttons, and wrote the first sentence (above). Moved by the beauty of color, I had been contemplating the importance of color in our lives. That very evening, I turned on the television and to my great surprise, there was an interview with a man named Bernard Pepin, who made a living advising the use of color! The interviewer began by defining him as, "a colorist, working with chromatics.' He worked with hospitals, industry as well as privately. He substituted his warm inviting colors instead of greys in a subway, and the graffiti problems were much reduced. The next day a friend gave me a book about color called, "Let There Be Light" by Darius Dinshah in which he discusses the healing properties of color. I have not been able to find a color for synchronicity!

I wanted to use fairly neutral colors in the background so the intensity of the color in the swatches would be stronger. However I am partial to warm colors, and so the grey became tinted to almost a brown. I had a dilemna about how to portray all of the colors. I would probably need some very sophisticated code to be able to let the viewer choose any color and see the results. So I have had to limit this website to use as an example for the color: RED. Sorry folks, but if it was a complete website, I would have chosen all three primary colors: red, yellow, blue. What I have done is include a very nice tool for playing with colors, at the bottom of the screen. By pulling the colors out to the edge you can see the various light and dark tones of each color. In the color "widget" there is a choice for "RGB" and "RYB". This refers to the primary colors. For print and painting, the primary colors are RED, YELLOW, BLUE. For any equipment that uses light, such as television or the computer screen, the primaries are RED, GREEN, BLUE. I have also included a very simple color picker that defines the hex colors.

For a very nice historical perspective on the history of color theory, visit Wikipedia's site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_theory .

Scott Joplin: Solace

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