The Color of Objects

Color is a property of light that depends on wavelength. When light falls on an object, some of it is absorbed and some is reflected. The apparent color of an opaque object depends on the wavelength of the light that it reflects; e.g., a red object observed in daylight appears red because it reflects only the waves producing red light. The color of a transparent object is determined by the wavelength of the light transmitted by it. An opaque object that reflects all wavelengths appears white; one that absorbs all wavelengths appears black. Black and white are not generally considered true colors; black is said to result from the absence of color, and white from the presence of all colors mixed together.

HUE refers to what is commonly called color, i.e., red, green, blue-green, orange, etc.

SATURATION refers to the richness of a hue as compared to a gray of the same brightness; this is also known as chroma.

VALUE measures the brightness of an opaque object on a scale from dim to bright or from black to white.

Primary Colors are the colors that mix together to make all the Secondary Colors, magenta, cyan & yellow.

Secondary Colors are the colors you get when you mix Primary Colors: orange, green & purple.

Tertiary Colors are the in-between colors like red-orange or yellow-green They’re made by mixing one primary color and one secondary color together. There are endless combinations of tertiary colors, depending on how they’re mixed.

Complementary Colors: magenta and green, cyan and orange, purple and yellow. These are the colors directly across from each other on the color wheel. They’re called “complementary” because, when used together, they become extremely vibrant and have a lot of contrast. Complementary colors are useful when you want to make something stand out.

Analogous Colors: red and orange, blue and green, etc. These are colors right next to each other on the color wheel. They usually match extremely well, but they have little contrast. They’re good for very serene-feeling designs and artwork where you want viewers to feel comfortable.

5. Colors can be associated with mood and feelings. Name at least one color that provokes a feeling, and which feeling?

To speed the reaction and help the dye fix to the fiber, an alkali is used as a catalyst. For Fiber Reactive Procion Dyes the alkali used is Soda Ash. The alkali strips hydrogen atoms off of the cellulose molecules so that the dye can easily form the covalent bond with the oxygen in the hydroxyl (-OH) groups. There is one draw back to this reaction, the hydroxyl groups are very much like water molecules which are H20 and the dye will start to form hydrogen bonds with the water if it is left to sit for too long. Once you mix up the dye it is best to use it within 24 hours.

While the reactive group is what makes it possible for the dye molecule to fix on to the fabric the main part of the dye that actually makes it appear a certain color is call a chromophore. When light hits a chromophore its molecular structure determines how is absorbs and reflects light. The reflected light from the chromophore is what we see as color. Different dyes have different chromphores and when we mix the dyes on the fabric, the different wavelengths of light that each reflect back mix in our eyes. That is how we create different colors by mixing the dyes.

There are many ways to apply Fiber Reactive Dyes, making them very versatile for all kinds of projects.

Now that you know about color theory and how subtractive color mixing work, you are ready to start planning the colors for your tie-dye project. The Primary Dharma Fiber Reactive Dye colors that correspond to the CMY primaries are as follows:

You can use the t-shirt to the left to help you plan where you want to put color on your shirt, keeping in mind it is going to be all folded and tied up. By drawing circles or lines you can help plan how and where you are going to tie and fold your shirt, this will give you a better idea of what it will be like when you are done.