INTRODUCTION

This chapter deals with colour harmony which we must strive to achieve in dress for without harmony there can be no beauty. A dress may look beautiful on a model but entirely unattractive on a human figure. This is because each one of us has distinct personality, each one of us has little peculiarities of line and colouring that require special thought and consideration.

Colours play a large part in the creating of fashion. An otherwise charming gown may be completely marred by the use of a wrong colour. On the other hand, the simplest gown can be enhanced by the use of the right colour. If you want to be truly well-dressed, find out now from the following chart just what colours most become you—and avoid those that do not. Colour in dress should be considered from two points of view. The first is the harmonious combination of colours in the costume itself.

Second is the becomingness of the colours of the costume to personal colouring, hair and eyes of the wearer. One is as important as the other and through ignorance of the first; a most unpleasant effect may be thrust upon a sensitive public; while disregard of the latter means a loss in personal beauty

4.1. AIM AND OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you should be able to have a clear idea of the following

v Colour harmonies and pleasing combinations of hues.

v Warm and cool colours

v The use of colour on the figure and figure size.

v Colour in a costume.

.

4.2. COLOUR HORMONIES

Harmony can be defined as a pleasing arrangement of parts, whether it is music, poetry, colour, or even an ice cream sundae. Colour theory has long had the goal of predicting or specifying the colour combinations that would work well together or appear harmonious. The colour wheel has been adopted as tool for defining these basic relationships.

Some theorists and artists believe juxtapositions of complementary colours are said to produce a strong contrast or tension because they annihilate each other when mixed; others believe the juxtapositions of complementary colours produce harmonious colour interactions Colours next to each other on the colour wheel are called analogous colours. They tend to produce a single-hued or a dominant colour experience. Harmony has been sought in combinations other than these two. A split complementary colour scheme employs a range of analogous hues, "split" from a basic key colour, with the complementary colour as contrast.

A triadic colour scheme adopts any three colours approximately equidistant around the hue circle. Printers or photographers sometimes employ a duotone colour scheme, generated as value gradations in black and a single coloured ink or colour filter; painters sometimes refer to the same effect as a monochromatic colour scheme.

The colour wheel harmonies have had limited practical application simply because the impact of the colour combinations is quite different, depending on the colours involved: the contrast between the complementary colours purple and green is much less strident than the contrast between red and turquoise.

They can suggest useful colour combinations in fashion or interior design, but much also depends on the tastes, lifestyle and cultural norms of the consumer. When the schemes have proven effective, this is often because of fundamental contrast is between warm and cool hues (in this instance meaning hues on the opposite sides of the colour wheel), contrast of value with darks and lights, contrast of saturated and unsaturated colours, or contrast of extension, when one colour is extended over a large area contrasting another colour extended over a very small area.

In the 20th century colour theory attempted to link colours to particular emotional or subjective associations: red is an arousing, sensual, feminine colour; blue is a contemplative, serene, masculine colour, and so on. This project has failed for several reasons, the most important being that cultural colour associations play the dominant role in abstract colour associations, and the impact of colour in design is always affected by the context. Create colour harmony with a colour wheel

The standard colour harmonies may be divided into two main groups.

v Harmonies of related colours.

v Harmonies of contrasting colours.

Colour harmony is the idea behind why a certain colour scheme seems to fit the purpose of a room, a pleasant combination of colours. This is based on one or more of the following aspects:

Tone is a harmony using whites, greys and black.

Tone + chroma: used in a monochromatic colour scheme by varying the tone or chroma of one colour (different tints and shades of one colour).

Analogous harmony is a maximum of three adjacent colours in the colour wheel. (e.g. using red orange and yellow).

Complementary harmony is based on a good combination of two colours diametrically opposite of the colour wheel. An important aspect is the amount of surface covered with the two colours: the warm colours (see colour contrast) are advancing colours, whereas the cold ones (like green and blue) are reseeding. When you have a orange - blue room, the orange is the dominant colour. To make the room not too freaky, the amount of surface covered with orange has to be smaller than the blue objects, in a ratio of about 3.5:6.5 to create the harmony.

Light: Light influences the colour we think we see: a an object we call red actually absorbs the green light waves of the emission spectrum, hence relatively more red waves are reflected. There are four types of light: direct sunlight, North light, artificial incandescent light and fluorescent light (emits just a few specific wavelengths). By manipulating the type of light used, you can alter the colour of the object you see. Example: a room with a window facing north (northern hemisphere) has the natural North light, which is predominantly blue. To create warmth in a room you use bluish colours, because those objects absorb the blue, thus relatively emitting more warm orange-like wavelengths; a balance in the "cold" room.

4.2.1. HARMONIES OF RELATED COLOURS:

Related colour harmonies have one hue in common

4.2.1.1. Complementary Harmony:

Complementary Harmony results from using hues opposite to each other in the colour wheel.

Complementary

R

                             RV             (RO)

                             /

                             V                     /         O

                             /

                             /

                             BV                   /                     YO

                             /

                             /

                             B         /                     Y

                             /

                             (BG)             YG

                             G

Blue and orange, red and green, yellow orange and blue-violet are an example of complementary harmony shown in Fig 4.2. Simple complementary schemes of two hues can be extended by using tints, tones, or shades of the selected hues.

Complementary colours lie directly across from each other on the colour wheel: red and green, or blue-green and red-orange, for example. Complementary colour schemes offer more contrast than monochromatic or analogous schemes, and tend to draw attention to the colour; it often is best to use them in unequal amounts, or with varying intensities, to create the most harmonious result.

When complementary hues are used in their full strength (light chroma) and in equal quantities, they intensify each other and produce sharp contrasts. This causes a vibration that is often painful to the eye. Red will seem redder when placed next to its complement, green, than when red is used with yellow. Green appears greener next to red than when used next to yellow. This phenomenon is called simultaneous contrast. The effect of the vibrations caused by these complements can be lessened by using a smaller amount of intense colour or by substituting a tone or shade of the desired hue.

4.2.1.2. Split complements harmony:

Split complement harmony occurs when a hue is used with the colours on either side of its complement. Pure complementary schemes provide you with only two colours and their shades and tints. There are other types of complementary schemes that provide a wider range of colour, and are less boldly contrasting than pure complements. One of these is the split complement, which is comprised of one colour along with the two colours on either side of its true complement. For example, the split complements of orange would be blue-violet and blue-green; the split-complements of green would be red-violet and red-orange.

Split Complementary

                             R

                             (RV)         (RO)

                             \         /

                             V           \     /           O

                             \ /

                             |

                             BV                   |                     YO

                             |

                             |

                             B               |               Y

                             |

                             BG     |     YG

                             (G)

An example Fig 4.3 of a split complementary colour scheme would be yellow joined withred-violet and blue –violet

4.2.1.3. Triad harmony:

In Fig 4.4 sample triad colour schemes are yellow, red, and blue or orange, purple, and green.

Triad

                             R

                             RV             RO

                             (V)- - - - - - - - (O)

                             \                             /

                             \                         /

                             BV       \                     /         YO

                             \                 /

                             \             /

                             B         \         /         Y

                             \     /

                             BG \ / YG

                             (G)

                            A Triad harmony uses three hues placed equidistant on the colour wheel. 

A triad consists of any three colours equidistant from each other (and their tones, tints and shades). There are four possible triads on this colour wheel. The primary colours of red, yellow, and blue together form one, as do the three secondary of violet, orange and green, and there are two triads from among the tertiary: red-violet, blue-green and yellow-orange; and red-orange, yellow-green, and blue-violet.

4.3.DISCORDANT SCHEMES

These can take the most skill to use successfully, but they provide the greatest range of colours and can create rich and dramatic results.

Alternante Complément

                             R

                             RV             RO

                             (V)- - - - - - - -(O)

                             \                         . /

                             \                 .     /

                             BV       \         .         /         YO

                             \ .             /

                             . \             /

                             (B)       \         /         Y

                             \     /

                             BG   \ /   YG

                             (G)

4.3.1. Alternate Complement

Another complementary scheme is the alternate complement, which provides four colours. It consists of a triad plus the true complement of one of them. For example, to the triad above of orange, violet and green, we could add orange's complement, blue.

4.3.2 .Double Complementary

The double complement is a complementary scheme that combines two sets of complements, like blue, orange, red and green; or red-violet, red-orange, yellow-green and blue-green.

Double Complement

                             R

                             (RV)         (RO)

                             \             /

                             V         \         /         O

                             \     /

                             \ /

                             BV                   X                     YO

                             / \

                             /     \

                             B         /         \         Y

                             /             \

                             (BG)     G (YG)

4.3.3 .Tetrad

The tetrad is a special form of double complement consisting of four colours evenly spaced around the wheel, like red, yellow-orange, green, and blue-violet. There are three possible schemes, each one comprises of one primary, one secondary, and two tertiaries.

Tetrad

                             (R)

                             RV     |     RO

                             |

                             V               |               O

                             |

                             |

                             (BV) - - - - + - - - - (YO)

                             |

                             |

                             B               |               Y

                             |

                             BG     |     YG

                             (G)

4.4. CONTRASTING COLOUR HARMONIES

Contrasting colour Harmonies have no hue in common.

Contrast of lightness and darkness is important, as well as contrast of colour (hue).

The diagram below shows how contrasting colour background affects the same red square:

On the orange background, the red square appears duller in colour and harder to see.

On the white background, the red square appears duller in colour

On the black background, the red square appears larger and more brilliant in colour.