Friday, August 17, 2012

Tetrad Color Scheme

The Quilter’s Studio Color Study Group                                                                  August 18, 2012
Tetrad Color Harmony:     Tetrad Colors combine every third color on the color wheel (equidistant on color wheel).
3 different palette choices of 4 colors each (2 complementary sets, but only 1 primary)
  • Yellow/Violet and Blue-Green/Red Orange
  • Red/Green and Blue-Violet/Yellow-Orange
  • Blue/Orange and Yellow-Green/Red-Violet
The tetradic scheme
·         The richest of all the schemes because it uses four colors arranged into two complementary color pairs.
·         This scheme is harder to harmonize;
·         if all four colors are used in equal amounts, the scheme may look unbalanced, so you should choose a color to be dominant or subdue the colors. Avoid using pure colors in equal amounts
·         sometimes referred to as  square tetrad (vs the rectangular tetrad which is really double split complement)
·         Start with one color and build around it using the color wheel or start with a tetrad print and add the individual colors
Pros:              The tetradic scheme offers more color variety than any other scheme.  Bold!

Cons:             This scheme is the hardest scheme to balance.

Tip:                 If the scheme looks unbalanced, try to subdue one or more colors.

Jane James    B/O/YG/RV                
Lisa Walsh       Y/V/RO/BG                        

 Debra Plane-Dunkel   R/G/BV/YO
               
References:
http://colorschemedesigner.com/  (click on the tetrad icon under the heading, then click on any color on the wheel and it will show you the tetrad scheme)      
            
  Homework for next class –September 15th (last class) 
Reading        Read through Workshops 8-12 – we will cover concepts and have examples next class to finish the book.
Project         Workshop 7        Tetrad Color Scheme       pages  176-179
Bring              Any of your pieces that you think might illustrate luminosity, transparency, or temperature