Color

There is no ugly color in the world. Every color can be beautiful depending upon what color it is next to. Look in your own backyard for color inspiration!

In this section we will discuss how colors enhance each other and how to mix "Tear It Ups" to get the color you want.

There are three dimensions of color. They are:

Hue - the name of a color, such as red, blue etc.

Value - the darkness or lightness of a color and

Intensity - the brightness or dullness of a color.

HUE - The primary (1.) colors are yellow, red and blue. Using just these three colors can mix any color.

The true neutrals are white and black.

The secondary (2.) colors or hues are those between the primaries. Mixing the two primaries adjacent to them makes them. The secondaries are orange, green and purple. You mix red and yellow to get orange. You get green by mixing blue and yellow and you get purple by mixing red and blue.

The tertiary (3.) colors, often the most interesting colors. You get these by mixing the colors adjacent to them on the color wheel. For example, mixing blue and green makes blue green.

When neighboring hues on the color wheel are mixed, they produce new hues that are harmonious and closely related.

When hues opposite each other are mixed in visually equal amounts, the result is a near neutral. For example if you mix orange and blue you get brown. You can dull a color if you add a small amount of the color opposite it. If you put just a little blue in with orange you get a dull orange or "burnt orange".

VALUE - The color wheel shown is also a VALUE chart. Yellow, the lightest color at its highest value and truest intensity is at the top. Each other hue at its truest intensity gets gradually darker as you look from yellow down the right side to violet. On the left side look from yellow down to violet or purple and you see that from yellow to orange to red to violet each color in its true intensity gets darker. If your color wheel is very accurate you can see that orange and green are the same value or the same degree of darkness. Also blue and red are the same value or same degree of darkness.

INTENSITY is the full saturation of color. Just yellow with nothing else mixed in is at its brightest and truest intensity. The same is true of the other colors.

When you mix black or white with a color you not only change the value (the lightness or darkness) but you change the intensity.

There are ways to "soften" a color or "tone it down".

1. You can mix in a little of the color opposite it on the color wheel (its complement).

2. You can mix in a little of a neutral or near neutral color. That is black or white or brown - in our case, making handmade paper, use bits of black paper, white paper or a brown paper grocery bag. (These are getting scarce and it is even more important to recycle them.) We also use our papermakers.

3. Use the color on a more textured surface. (Smooth shiny surfaces seem brighter and texturing seems duller and thus softens the effect of a color.) Here would be a place to try embossing.

4. Add an all over pattern such as you would get from leaving flecks of color by not beating the pulp as long with your blender or hand beater. Flecks of color could also come from your recycled printed paper or from inclusions.

Make your own color wheel out of handmade paper