Color+Vocabulary

__**Idioms that express their meaning**__
 * Special honours for a special or important person: the red carpet
 * By surprise, unexpectedly: out of the blue
 * The OK to start something: the green light
 * Very clear and easy to understand: in black and white
 * Owing money, in debt: be in the red
 * To feel sad: to feel blue
 * The market not controlled by the government: the black market
 * Something that is not true but causes no harm: a white lie
 * Having money: in the black
 * Jealous of someone else's good fortune: green with envy
 * Complicated official procedures and forms: red tape


 * __Definitions:__**
 * Color:** effect produced on the eye and its associated nerves by light waves of different wavelength or frequency. Light transmitted from an object to the eye stimulates the different color cones of the retina, thus making possible perception of various colors in the object.


 * Color Wheel:** This color wheel shows the primary colors, secondary colors, and the tertiary colors. It also shows the relationships between complementary colors across from each other on the color wheel, such as blue and orange; and analogous (similar or related) colors next to each other on the color wheel such as yellow, green and blue. Black and white may be thought of as colors but, in fact, they are not. White light is the presence of all color - black is the absence of reflected light and therefore the absence of color.
 * Color Wheel II:** A color wheel shows how colors are related. On a color wheel, each secondary color is between the primary colors that are used to make it. Orange is between red and yellow because orange is made by mixing red with yellow. What goes between secondary colors and primary colors? Intermediate, or tertiary, colors are made by mixing a primary color with a secondary color that is next to it. Red-orange, yellow-orange and yellow-green are some intermediate colors.
 * Kinds of Color Wheels:**
 * __Primary__ colors are the defining colors of the wheel. In the color wheels below, they appear in the center as well as equally spaced around the circle. On the traditional artist's color wheel red, blue, and yellow are primary colors.
 * __Secondary__ colors are the three colors that are equal distant from the primary colors. On the traditional artist's color wheel violet, green, and orange are secondary colors.
 * __Tertiary__ colors are the colors between each primary and secondary color. On the traditional artist's color wheel red-violet, blue-violet, blue-green, yellow-green, yellow-orange, and red-orange are tertiary colors.


 * Value:** refers to the lightness or darkness of a color. Colors mixed with white are called tints. Pink is a tint of red. Colors mixed with black are called shades. Burgundy is a shade of red. Paintings that use only one color and the tints and shades of that color are called monochromatic (one=mono; color=chromatic).
 * Tints:** are light values that are made by mixing a color with white. For example, pink is a tint of red, and light blue is a tint of blue.
 * Shades:** are dark values that are made by mixing a color with black. Maroon is a shade of red, and navy is a shade of blue.


 * Analogous colors:** they sit next to each other on the color wheel. They tend to look pleasant together because they are closely related.
 * Mood:** Colors are often associated with moods. For example, we say "green with envy," "a blue mood." Certain colors also look cool, such as blue, green and violet; and others look warm, like red, orange and yellow.
 * Natural Color:** Artists use colors to create a variety of desired effects. When an artist paints a scene or objects realistically, colors are used in imitation of the things being painted.
 * Color Effects:** When small dots of pure color are applied close together, the viewer's eyes mix the colors. Notice that each dot of pure color the artist has used looks bright, but when your eye mixes them they are subdued, almost neutral.

There are four sections on this page that present the best answers. [|Introduction: How Colors Exist] [|# 1 - The First Answer: Color Theory #1 - Color as Light] [|# 2 - The Second Answer: Color Theory #2 - Color as Pigment or Molecular Coloring Agents] [|# 3 - The Third and Most Complete Answer: Vision and Reflection]
 * Black and White:** The answer to the question - "Are black and white colors?" **-** is one of the most debated issues about color. Ask a scientist and you'll get a reply based on physics: “Black is not a color, white is a color.” Ask an artist or a child with crayons and you'll get another: “Black is a color, white is not a color.” (Maybe!)

Most yin color: black. Most powerfull and hottest yang color: red.
 * Color and Feng Shui:**In the Color wheel: the purples through the greens is yin (cool), and yellows through reds is yang (warm).