Totally Tessellated: Other Design and Color Techniques, page 5/6

Other Design and Color Techniques (5/6)

1. Introduction
2. Border Modification
3. Embellishment
4. Variations of a
Simple Shape
5. Stars
6. Balancing Colors
7. 3D Coloration

Balancing Colors
In the book Grammar of Ornament, the author Owen Jones sets out certain propositions concerning the design of ornament. "Ornament" includes any type of design used to decorate an object. Thus, the term includes repeating patterns, non-repeating patterns, designs that use polygons, and designs that use irregular shapes. Tessellations are a subset (i.e., a small portion of) of the larger category of ornament.

Many of Jones' propositions, nevertheless, are relevant to the design of tessellations, especially color-related issues. Some of his ideas concerning the balance of color are described and illustrated as follows.

Idea 1
Primary colors should be used in relatively small amounts and should be balanced by relatively large amounts of secondary and other colors. Consider the following examples:

Large amounts of secondary color with a small amount of primary color

Large amounts of primary color and a small amount of secondary color

Which images are more pleasing to your eye? According to the rule, the ones on the left should be more tasteful than the ones on the right.

The primary colors, red, yellow, and blue, are too pure, strong, and bright to the eye to be present in large amounts.

Idea 2
The following proportion of primary colors are equivalent in strength: 5/16 red, 3/16 yellow, and 8/16 blue. This idea relates to the previous one in that certain colors have more strength (i.e., purity, brightness) than others. Even the primary colors differ in this respect. For example, consider the following patterns which differ in the amount of each primary color present:

Five parts red, three parts yellow, and eight parts blue

Equal amounts of red, yellow, and blue

Which image is more pleasing to your eye? According to the rule, the one on the left should be more tasteful than the ones on the right.

In the figure above, the image on the right has too much yellow. When looking at it from a distance, yellow is the main color that you see. On the other hand, the image on the left has the amounts of colors adjusted for balance. Thus, when looking at it from a distance, all colors seem to have equal weight.

Idea 3
The following proportion of secondary colors are equivalent in strength: 8/32 orange, 13/16 purple, and 11/16 green. For example, consider the following patterns which differ in the amount of each secondary color present:

Eight parts orange, thirteen parts purple, and eleven parts green

Equal amounts of orange, purple, and green

Which image is more pleasing to your eye? According to the rule, the one on the left should be more tasteful than the ones on the right.

In the figure above, the image on the right has too much orange. When looking at it from a distance, orange is the main color that you see. On the other hand, the image on the left has the amounts of colors adjusted for balance. Thus, when looking at it from a distance, all colors seem to have equal weight.

Notice that the proportion 8:13:11 was obtained by adding the appropriate numbers from the proportion of primary colors. For example, 8 for orange was obtained by adding 5 and 3, the weights of red and yellow, respectively.

How do primary colors compare to secondary colors? We can use the adding technique just described to answer this question. Since 5/16 red can be balanced by 3/16 yellow and 8/16 blue, then 5/16 red can also be balanced by (3+8)/16 = 11/16 of the color that is obtained by mixing yellow and blue, which is green. Similarly, 3/16 yellow is equivalent to (5+8)/16 = 13/16 orange, and 8/16 blue is equivalent to (5+3)/16 = 8/16 orange.

Idea 4
The darker the color, the more that is needed to maintain balance; and, the lighter the color, the less that is needed to maintain balance. You may have already deduced this from the previous ideas using logic.

Less red and more of a certain shade of red

Equal amounts of red and a certain shade of red

The image on the left should be seem more balanced than the ones on the right.

Real examples of coloring techniques:

Visit the templates page for templates of tessellations that you can print out and color.

Web Links
Color Wheels: The Artist's Most Useful Reference Tools

Color Perception

Basic Color Theory

Color Theory

Color Theory (2)

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