The color circle of Itten

Our brain is still poorly taught, as complex neurological processes are going on inside it, connected with the whole organism by a single whole.

The eyes are one of the tools of perception of the surrounding world. With their help, we can distinguish a huge number of colors and shades, enjoying and admiring the rainbow extravaganza.

The simple about the complex


If to delve into the science of coloristic, disassemble colors by tone and semitone, shades, spectra, it becomes clear that all the wealth of color is difficult to systematize. The Swiss artist Itten proposed to simplify the system with a circle of twelve colors. With this circle, color matching and developing a new color palette has become much easier. The person can easily imagine the twelve color, and the larger number will only complicate understanding and perception. Not everyone can imagine a circle of a hundred flowers.

Three pillars: yellow, blue and red

The circle is based on the red, yellow and blue colors. They form a palette of the first order. Mixing in pairs blue and red, we get purple, yellow and blue give a combination of green, and yellow and red — orange. It turns out the palette of the second order: orange, purple and green. All this can be seen on the color circle of Itten, where in the triangle of the three primary colors, the second order appear the other three colors. This system easily allows, if necessary, to arrange all other color variations between them.

Why is the  Circle?

The circle is good for displaying the principles of harmony and color mixing. Perceiving and analyzing each color, our brain balances it with an additional one. This fact underlies the color harmony, creating a sense of balance. The opposite colors in the Itten circle are complementary, counterbalancing each other, and when mixed give a gray color. the colors in the circle are arranged in the same sequence as the colors in the spectrum of visible radiation. The people have come up with the phrase «Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain», which allows you to quickly remember the colors of the rainbow.

Application


The color circle can be used in any area of our lives: for a combination of clothing, interior design, creating paintings. To use a large number of colors than in the circle of Itten, you can use the application Color Assist. It is convenient to make harmonious palettes with it, choosing shades from a larger color variety.

Deeply interested in the theory of color, Itten wrote a book how to draw colors to harmonize space.
His research and now help designers, artists and ordinary people create masterpieces.
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