An Epiphany of Color
An objectively verifiable, rational and easy-to-use approach to color harmony.
“Color has a logic all its own,” according to the great French painter Pierre Bonnard, widely considered one of the most important colorists of the 20th Century. This article contains the logic Bonnard was talking about.
There is almost nothing currently in the body of literature from artists or scientists that makes any sense on the subject of color harmony. In fact, the only quote we’ve been able to find that really makes any sense at all regarding this topic comes from Bonnard. “Just like music, count 1, 2, 3” he wrote. He jotted down this deceptively simple remark in a sketchbook, along with a number of other rather mysterious comments on a variety of painterly topics. But nothing sums up the subject of color harmony more accurately and dare I say more succinctly than Bonnard’s music analogy. Color harmony and simple proportional number relationships are the same thing. Color relationships are number relationships. When you have finished reading this article, you will have the full power and beauty of color at your command for the first time. In fact, five minutes after reading this and taking a screen shot of these Harmonic Charts, you can begin applying this knowledge to your work. The rule for using the chart is simple: Use the colors that are touching. That’s it. Currently, there is no universally accepted understanding of the subject of color harmony, which is really just a term for the coherent and orderly use of color in a work of art. The color harmony books we’ve all leafed through at Barnes & Noble or Borders do not make a lot of sense, although they do contain useful information about the behavior of color. However, when you try to apply the information to your work as a method of creating intelligently controlled harmony, you discover that there’s no specific procedure offered for achieving a harmony of colors. Even worse are the theorists who purport to offer systems of color harmony with no rational explanation for how the system works. I originally wanted to put the Harmonic Chart together for artists who are already using the HVC Color Composer so that they could get a look at a good sampling of what objectively verifiable harmonies arranged in simple numerical proportional schemes actually look like. It’s a good idea for graphic designers and gallery artists alike to make their own harmonic charts to explore their own sensibilities and create pre-prepared harmonies for their own work, although it is not absolutely necessary if artists choose to work directly with Master Colors’ HVC Color Composer software. Every artist has a personal sensibility that is all their own, which is what makes it your art. But art also is a craft, like carpentry or repairing a car motor. You need the knowledge and the tools or the deck will collapse and the engine won’t work. Continued on next page
Master Colors’ Harmonic Charts: Section 1
HOW THE HARMONIC CHARTS WORK: All of the colors in the swatch ensembles below work with each other, as long as they are touching. The controlled contrast generated when colors touch is what creates the harmonies. The harmonies are arranged so that black against white also works with all of these color combinations, which is necessary for most graphic designs, as in black type on a white field. All of the colors touching the white background can be used against white in combination with all of these harmonies, even if they are from a different section of the chart. (See illustrations below for further examples. Also, see more Master Colors’ Harmonic Charts below.)