While colors, as we know them, differ from each other, they exist, according to the generally accepted theory, as simply different movements of the same element. The immense ocean of ether, which is in all space, is one, and the colors are all waves of that one ocean.
When a ray of light undergoes a change of direction it is divided into many minor rays, which to our visual sense are represented as colors. As, for example, if a ray of white light be directed through the edge of a triangular prism so that its course is bent or refracted, the ray is divided into several different rays of colors, these being thereby termed spectrum colors.
It is practically agreed by authorities that the rainbow affords the most complete illustration of spectrum colors, these being formed by the passage of light through the spray or drops of water in a shower. Color, then, may be said to be due to the action of light. Hence the established dictum, namely, white is a reunion of all the colored rays of the prismatic spectrum. It is a basic element in every color except black, and, as a color, black figures as an absolute neutral, it being devoid of white light.
The conditions and circumstances which unite to produce the varying and various color sensations have never yet been unanimously agreed upon by the eminent color theorists. The practical man may thread the remotest confines of color theories as expounded by Newton, Brewster Jones, Field, Rood, Young, and others, until his adventures bring him out on the toil-won heights and stupendous summits of the modern science of colors, and what he beholds will simply tend to confuse his intellect and more than ever convince him that the mastery of color laws remains yet to be accomplished; that no unalterable rule can be successfully applied to the theory of color. To those of my readers who desire to explore deeply into the recesses of color science, I would recommend the works by the afore-mentioned colorists. It is the purpose to deal in this chapter, so far as possible, with the more practical aspects of the science.
Objective color, as distinguished from what is termed illusive or prismatic color, is confined to those substances or materials endowed with the selective property for absorbing the colored rays from the light which is imparted to them, and which, in the technology of painting, are known as pigments.
The colors which make up the three orders usually, but not invariably, recognized by modern colorists, and which practically apply to the needs of the vehicle painter, may be placed as follows:[A]
| Primary Colors | Secondary Colors | Tertiary Colors |
| Red | Green | Russet |
| Yellow | Purple | Citron |
| Blue | Orange | Olive |
Carmine, ultramarine blue, and lemon chrome yellow most nearly approach to the prismatic colors, and, taking them for the primaries, we find, according to the deductions of Chevreul and others, that in proportional strength they rank thus: Yellow, the weakest, 3; red, medium, 5; blue, strongest, 8. To form the secondary colors, yellow, 3 parts, and blue, 8 parts, produces green, which is the contrasting color to red, the contrasting primary being always the color not contained in the secondary. Purple, the contrast to yellow, contains red, 5 parts; blue, 8 parts. Orange, the contrast to blue, has red, 5 parts; yellow, 3 parts. Any color in the secondary column opposite a color in the primary column is the contrasting color to that primary, and in the tertiary column, the tertiary opposite any given secondary may be accepted as the harmonizing color to that secondary's contrasting primary; as, for example, yellow, the primary, has purple as its contrasting, and citron as its harmonizing, color. In like manner russet harmonizes with red and olive with blue. The tertiaries may be produced by uniting the secondaries in equal proportions, or by the primaries being combined in the proportion of 2 parts of any given primary and 1 part of each of the two remaining primaries. For instance, olive is made of purple and green, both secondaries, or it may be made of blue, 2 parts, and 1 part each red and yellow. Citron is made from green and orange; russet from orange and purple. Referring to the three different orders of colors, it will be found that experiment will enable one to effect many changes in the development of color harmony. Any one color of any of the three orders will harmonize with the colors which contrast with the remaining two colors of the same order. Take the primary, blue. The contrasting colors to the remaining two primaries are purple and green, with which blue harmonizes. The contrasts to the primaries, red and blue, are respectively green and orange, with which the third primary, yellow, harmonizes. Or red will harmonize with the contrasts to the primaries, yellow and blue, which are purple and orange. Continuing the experiment to the secondary colors, it is found that green harmonizes with citron and olive, the contrasts to the two remaining secondaries, purple and orange; purple harmonizes with russet (russet contains a double share of red, bear in mind) and olive, both being contrasts to orange and green, the other secondaries. Orange harmonizes with citron and russet, the contrasts to purple and green.
These experiments in the domain of color contrasts and harmony might be pursued indefinitely, but the above will suffice to afford the student who essays the colorist's art (and what vehicle painter doesn't aspire to that art?) a practical working plan for the acquirement of such information as will enable him ultimately to successfully meet the exacting requirements of modern vehicle ornamentation. Knowledge of the harmony of analogy, a simple, effective, and ready way of varying painting, together with a knowledge of contrasts, the finer, higher, and superior system of effecting the most adorable and fetching color adornment, is an indispensable help to the painter, to attain which he can well afford to make many sacrifices.
The harmony of color as it applies to the use of two or more colors with reference to the relationships which should exist between them, requires to be further intensified by a strict and vigilant regard for the season, conditions, and circumstances which obtain when certain combinations of colors are employed. And for this reason: Blue is a cold color, chilly in the extreme at some seasons of the year, upon certain surfaces. It may be called a space color and imparts a retiring effect to form. Red, applied to form, appears stationary and gives a warmth of sentiment. Orange is, if anything, warmer in its effect than a full red. Bright yellow tends to excitement of the vision. Green has a conspicuous or advancing appearance.