Thank you! Duke Blue offers only one of interesting stories, where they started with Yale Blue (their headmaster came from there, but after several changes decided to take #001A57 (Prussian Blue). In a way it's not surprising people disagree on whether a slightly green blue or a slightly purple blue is relatively cooler or warmer. This flies in the face of what I studied about colour temperature 'way back when'. It seems like there might be a disconnect in making the wavelength spectrum a circle because somewhere between blue and red the colors fade to black which is sort of a total lack of white (or visible light). Warm or cool? To make things even more interesting Prussian Blue is also connected with different code (will be added later with its own story). Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. I'm the type of person who just “, When we compare two different blues, in this case, To fully understand the way the Colour Wheel 'works', we first need to take a look at the. I find that by using the spectrum analogy it gets the point across quite well, without having to go into the finer points of light-vs-pigment, comparative vibrancies, etc. Winsor Blue is made of an organic synthetic pigment, copper phthalocyanine. Those are the questions I've been pondering for the past few weeks, while I was busy updating notes for a workshop I was teaching on Basic Colour Theory. This is my simplistic theoretical framework for thinking about this. Today on a daytime show where they did a room makeover, the decorator said green a warm colour. Choosing which blue is closer to green or closer to violet is really an instinctive use of the colour spectrum, I would say. Ultramarine looked cooler than cobalt blue or phthalo blue to my eyes and I was reading the opposite in a lot of places. And go from there accordingly if I want to get away from the nice clear colours. The visual wheel also locates the warm shades of cerulean blue or the green shade of phthalo blue approximately at this color point. If I keep this in mind it doesn't really matter whether I call any blue warm or cool. I feel your pain LOL ... sorting out warm and cool colours, and colour mixing in general, can give one a gigantic headache. I can wear blues leaning towards green but I cannot wear blues that lean towards violet. Green or Yellow shade is the best choice to fill the cool side of the blue spectrum. That said, for me, ultramarine is warm, and thalo is cool. I just picked up a tube of Prussian blue, and manganese blue hue - to test them out. Finally I stopped thinking in terms of warmth or coolness and just looked to see if the blue was closer to green or violet. Press J to jump to the feed. I meant to reply to this (instead of above) - for me it's mostly sketches and some watercolour journaling. I have yellow undertones to my skin making my skin tones warm. I'm the type of person who just “has to know”, and so I set about to try and figure out just where this shift may have stemmed from. http://i.imgur.com/geoJFdm.jpg http://i.imgur.com/sCBnAQ2.jpg. Love love your work! I stumbled upon this while writing a book on interior decoration. My blues of choice are Indanthrone, Prussian, and Phthalo. Blockx cyanine blue imitates with phthalo blue the original cyanine blue formulation (cobalt blue mixed with prussian blue). Just don't expect it to give you the same bright electric blues and greens as Phthalo Blue. :). Don't feel that by following the instructions 'to the letter' for the classwork that you are committed to that methodology or viewpoint for all of your work. This is a good thing because it means the color in the tube goes a long way. I have been struggling with this very question related to developing a color pallet for oil painting. Hello Lily ... so glad you found my post - I pondered the question for quite awhile, since I was finding so many 'newer' references which said just the opposite of what I had learned so many years ago. I have always instinctively believed that Phthalo blues are warmer blues than Ultramarine Blues because they look warmer to me. So I'll keep my comment short because I'm new to painting. Just ad some white for God sake, and you will see immediately how ultramarine is ice cool, and pthalo is warm!!!! People -- experts, supposedly, make such contradictory statements about this colour temperature thing! Many years ago (we won't say exactly HOW many, but it's been a good long while) I set out on what has become a lifelong journey of exploring colour theory. Ultramarine has a more "violent" sharp impact, to me anyway. Generally, they are both cool but Prussian is deeper and more neutralised, whereas phthalo blue is brighter (higher chroma). I will continue to believe that Ultramarine is the cooler of the two blues. I've used cerulean for skies and some soft greys. the degree of warmth or coldness from an aesthetic point of view. It is a deep and intense blue which approaches black in masstone and has either a red or green undertone, leading to the variations of Winsor Blue (Red Shade) and Winsor Blue (Green Shade). Prussian Blue (PB 27) Prussian Blue is of significant importance in the art world as it is known to be the first man-made pigment. Thank you SOOOOOO much! I'm a retired teacher not art. :). If we use just the colour wheel, without considering its origins and underlying meanings, that would be the logical conclusion. A blue warmer than a yellow! To create a Prussian blue hue, you add a little warm red to Phthalo blue (green shade) and mix. The colours in this simplified version of the Spectrum are arranged according to their relative wavelengths, with Red having the longest and Violet the shortest. Cadmium Red So if red is the warmest color, how can a blue with red added to it be cooler? Thanks for posting. This is exactly what I needed to know! It makes more sense now that you explained it. I even thought I labelled my colours wrong! As a young adult I exhausted every book on the subject at the local libraries wherever I lived, and I never stopped. I've always sensed that ultramarine was cooler but some color theory books said otherwise and I became so confused about blues in particular. Hi David, Yes, Orange is warmer then red, of course- it has yellow in it and what can be warmer then yellow? Various versions of this basic colour wheel are commonly used by the majority of artists nowadays, and I believe this just might be where the confusion may have arisen over the relative temperatures of Ultramarine Blue and Thalo Blue. Red, to my eye, did seem to be somewhere (though not middle) between yellow and blue concerning warmth/coolness. These colours veer into the red range of the spectrum. Emotionally, it has a calming effect. Excellent explanation... love your very clear visuals. That division is widely accepted, and is based in part on psychological connections our brains make when viewing certain colours. It's an interesting point of view. Also, with the addition of chlorine to it, it turns to a lighter green tone than the original prussian blue with the same chemical characteristics. principle for teaching colour to those who want a simple quick lesson. Cheers ... Sharon. However, let`s take a closer look at this colour wheel. Thanks very much Emilya, and the same to you. Poor production standards in the early to mid 20th century meant that the otherwise perfect Prussian Blue had gained a reputation for uneven quality. Those properties don't change simply because we've turned the Spectrum bar into a circle, or a wheel. (Sharon Hicks is an artist who resides in Sackville NB. Is this relevant to your discussion. Modern colour theory doesn't really enter into it, as it would tend to avoid pointless confusion by just saying reddish-blue or greenish blue. When using the RGB color model where red, green, and blue light are added together, Prussian blue has the RGB code of 0, 49, 83 . Thirst for colour theory Design work, but seems yet warmer than blue, monastral and intense blue be it. In these cases I would like to have the answer red end than blue monastral... 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