Topic awaiting preservation: more about colorschemes

i have a theory and i'd like some feedback on it

ok there are red green and blue
# red green blue

my theory is that if i take a color ... for example
#AABBCC
then if i change only AA or BB or CC i get colors that suit
together ... for example: #66BBCC #88BBCC #99BBCC

i made a simple php script to illustrate that:
http://terraflux.org/royal/color.php

the colorchemes there are created randomly so its 70% bullshit
(refresh gives another set of schemes)


good web-ressources on color theory would be helpful....

By and large, yes you'll get colors that work together.

But by and large, you will also get very boring and very flat color schemes as well.

IMO, nothing beats sticking to a couple of basic tenents in thinking about a color scheme (compliments, split compliments, etc) and good old fashioned trial and error with your own eye.

Of course, it's also important, when choosing a color scheme, to imagine a true color wheel, and not an RGB color wheel. RGB as primary defines the way color works on screen - but it doesn't change the fact the way colors look.

could someone explain me how the hue to rgb conversion is done?

Try this: http://semmix.pl/color/extrans/etr70.htm

-- not necessarily stoned... just beautiful.

ok made another script with real color wheel ... almost real

should be split-complementary
should be triadic

these color schemes created still look kinda boring tho
...maybe it's just the html they are in ...

I try to avoid choosing color schemes based on mathematical principles. I find (as DL said above) that sticking to a formula generally produces boring color schemes.

On my site (first link in my sig), my color schemes are based on pictures. What I do is I choose picture for the scheme and then take the eyedropper and start picking colors out of it. Eventually I'll find two colors that I think work well together, and I use those as the basis for the color scheme and built everything onto that.

For example, my "coastal" scheme is based on the colors of the ocean and the sky in the picture. "Buddha" is based on different shades of the tree and Buddha head. "Osan-ri" colors are taken from the green rice plants and the dried grass on the pathway. I don't hit the jackpot with every color scheme (some of the schemes on my site are getting pretty old), but occasionally I come up with a good one, and those are the ones I end up keeping.

If you don't have a feel for color, no amount of math is going to save you. I think feel should come first, math second.

And since you did ask for some resources on color theory, here are a couple...

Colours on the Web
Color Matters

Googling for "color theory" will also turn up some interesting links. And if your interested in taking a trip to the library, you want want to look up stuff by or about Josef Albers.


___________________________
Suho: www.liminality.org

two of my favorite color schemes came from

1. fried chicked, coke, and spinach salad dinner aftermath photos
2. striped toe socks