How High Is Your Color IQ?    

hand painted photography

   

By Rosemary Pipitone

Colors are the children of light  - Joseph Itten  

As photographers, we are not trained to see and use color the same as painters.  We learn the basics of color relationships, but not the finer points. Those finer points, though, are what help create a successful image. Applied color offers the photographer unlimited possibilities and total control. You can color a photograph to appear real, surreal, or unreal. Color can create a mood, symbolize a quality, or enhance emotion. The power of color is as vast as the ocean. Understanding that power is what will set your work apart. 

This is the first in a series of articles on color theory and usage. While some topics may strike you as a bit dry -- only because they are!-- understanding color theory is crucial to the success of your final image.

Let’s begin with a little bit of fun. How High Is Your Color IQ? So you learned everything you need to know about color in grammar school.  Or did you?

Answer the following 20 questions and test how much you actually remember.  

1. Red, blue and yellow are:
    1. Primary colors
    2. Secondary colors
    3. Tertiary colors
 2. Secondary colors are made by:
    1. Mixing two primaries
    2. Mixing three primaries
    3. Mixing a hue with white
    4. Mixing a hue with black
 3. A tint is made by:
    1. Mixing two primaries
    2. Mixing three primaries
    3. Mixing a hue with white
    4. Mixing a hue with black
 4. A shade is made by:
    1. Mixing two primaries
    2. Mixing three primaries
    3. Mixing a hue with white
    4. Mixing a hue with black
 5. Mixing equal amounts of red, blue and yellow paint will:
    1. Produce black
    2. Produce white
    3. Produce dark gray
 6. Tertiary colors are:
    1. Red, blue, and yellow
    2. Red-violet, blue-green, and yellow-orange
    3. Violet, green, and orange
 7. Complementary colors are:
    1. Colors next to one another on the color wheel
    2. Colors opposite on the color wheel
    3. Colors that look nice together
    4. Colors that blend well together
 8.   Complementary colors brighten each other when placed side by side, but will reduce    each other’s brightness when mixed together.           
True or False  
9. What are the four characteristics of a color?
    1. Hue, value, saturation, and shade
    2. Hue, value, tint, and shade
    3. Hue, value, saturation, and temperature
10. Primary colors cannot be created or formed by any combination of other colors.           
True or False 
11. Hue is another word for the name of a color.           
True or False 
12.  Value describes:
    1. Brightness or intensity of a color
    2. Relative lightness or darkness of a color
    3. Joint effect of two or more colors
13. Saturation describes:
    1. Brightness or intensity of a color
    2. Relative lightness or darkness of a color
    3. Joint effect of two or more colors
 14.  Warmer, darker colors recede while cooler, paler colors advance.           
True or False 
15. Tertiary colors are made by:
    1. Mixing two primaries together
    2. Mixing three primaries together
    3. Mixing a primary and a secondary color together.
16.  Colors located close to one another on the color wheel are called:
    1. Monochromatic colors
    2. Analogous colors
    3. Tertiary colors
17.  A small amount of red on a green field makes the red appear:
    1. More intense
    2. Less intense
18.  Monochromatic colors are:
    1. Colors next to one another on the color wheel
    2. Colors opposite on the color wheel
    3. Variation of shades and tints of the same hue.
19.  The first circular color wheel was invented in:
a)  1666
b)  1766
c)  1866
d)  1966 
20.  Color theory is:
    1. A set of rules that must be followed
    2. A set of guidelines that should be followed
    3. An explanation of the behavior between colors and their relationships.
 

Answers

            1.    A                                      11.    True

            2.    A                                      12.    A

            3.    C                                      13.    B

            4.    D                                      14.    False

            5.    C                                      15.    C

            6.    B                                      16.    B

            7.    B                                      17.    B

            8.    True                                 18.    C

            9.    C                                      19.    A

            10.  True                                 20.    C

Scoring:   Add 5 points for every correct answer.

If you didn’t do all that well on the Color IQ test, don’t worry. Most photography classes only cover the bare bones in color theory. I had a few painter friends take this test and while most of them remembered the concepts, even they forgot a lot of the pesky terminology. 

 

Interested in using this article in your publication, newsletter or web site? Contact Rosemary at:  rosemary@handpaintedphotography.com

   
       
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