MM 332:
Electronic Design
and Layout
Lectures/Color
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< Back to color basics
History of the Color Wheel (from busybrushes.com)
 In
order to begin study of hue, value, and chroma, we must have a starting
point. The most natural point is the color wheel. Who decided colors
come in a wheel, why are their twelve colors in the wheel, why is
there a specific order of sequence??? Answers below!
From classical Greek philosophers up until around 1660, the accepted
theory of color esteemed that all colors were based upon the elements
of fire, air, water, and earth, mixed with lightness and darkness.
Even Leonardo da Vinci held to this theory.
There were no attempts at organizing colors until Sir Isaac
Newton bent white light through a prism and discovered
the spectrum of colors. He chose seven major colors to relate to
the seven planets and seven musical notes of the diatonic scale:
red (C), orange (D), yellow (E), green (F), blue (G), indigo (A),
and violet (B). He then twisted this straight bank of the spectrum
into history's first color wheel.
It was not until the middle 1700's that the primaries were finally
discovered. J.C. LeBlon published a written treatise
on the fundamental nature of the primaries which simply states these
colors mixed together in prescribed orders made what we now call
secondary colors.
Mandalas
Did you know that the color wheel took its
shape and form from the mandala? Our culture is familiar with
mandalas primarily because of the work of Carl Jung who became
interested in them while studying Eastern religion. Jung saw
the circular images his clients experienced as "movement
towards psychological growth, expressing the idea of a safe
refuge, inner reconciliation and wholeness." For Jung,
mandalas are "vessels" into which we project our
psyche. It is then returned to us as a way of restoration.
He recognized that archetypes from many cultures were seen
in this spontaneous expression of the unconscious. Circles
are universally associated with meditation, healing and prayer.
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About ten years later (ca.1766), Morris Harris,
published the first color chart printed in full hue. This chart
appears in the book The Natural System of Colors . It discusses
the primitive colors (red, yellow, blue), the mediate colors (orange,
green, purple), and compound colors (tertiaries). This is the point
I mark as the true beginning of color theory.
From the 1800's on, there is a flurry of activity in the study
of color. The men who took up the study of color come from varied
backgrounds of scientists, philosophers, artists even poets. Goethe
arranged his colors in both circles and triangles, Runge
used both the triangle and a solid color sphere, Blanc
arranged his colors in a six-pointed star. I will not bore and confuse
you with details of the many different theories at this point, however,
it is interesting reading if you have the time. The amount of history
I have given up to this point is simply to illustrate how long it
took man to develop a logical system for studying color and to show
how varied the methods can be.
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