Colour
Complementary Colours
Wednesday, 17 March 2010
Posted by Niki Fulton at 21:00 PM in Colour
So we all know that complementary colours are opposite hues on the colour wheel.
You will probably also know that if you stare at a red square for a while and then shut your eyes, you will see a green square - you see the complementary colour of red: green. This phenomenon is called "successive contrast" and is caused by our brains trying to restore a colour equilibrium. In other words, our brains become over loaded with red and tries to rebalance by introducing green. You will see a complementary "after image" after looking at any colour for long enough - with the exception of the colour grey. The brain views grey as a totally harmonious colour and feels in a state of perfect equilibrium. It is also true that if you mix any complementary pair of colours together you always create grey. Perhaps this helps us explain why so many of us feel very relaxed in a room with grey walls.
The other point to note with complementary colours is that when placed next to each other they appear to make each other brighter - this can be useful if you are wanting to create some drama. The wrappers on the easter eggs above were probably chosen to make the eggs stand out amongst a plethora of other Easter eggs.
While on the subject of complementary colours, I should really mention shadows. Did you know shadows are always the complementary colour of the light that throws them? Yellow sunlight throws a violet shadow, it's complementary colour. If you are interested in the science of colour, I must steer you towards the most fascinating book, Johannes Itten's "The Art of Colour".
Comment posted by fAnne Brooks on Saturday, 20 March 2010 at 05:01 AM
Niki, you amaze me.
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