Color Notations Color Wheels Color Temperature Psychological Effects and Symbolism of Color Variation within a hue References Practice making a color wheel Practice Block in primary colors Definition Hue is the word for what we usually refer to as color. A hue, such as red, refers to a specific wavelength of light. Hues range from red to violet and the full spectrum of colors or hues can be seen in a rainbow. Physics of Color Color is a function of light and represents one portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. White light contains the full spectrum of color.
Objects absorb some wavelengths of light and reflect others.
The color we perceive is the wavelength of light, which is reflected. As an example, a red ball absorbs all the colors of the spectrum except red, which it reflects. Our eyes and brain process the light and we perceive a color. Humans perceive the spectral range from 800 millimicrons to 390 millimicrons as colors or hues from red to violet, including reds, oranges, yellows, greens, blues, indigos and violets. Beyond red is infrared, which we experience as heat, and beyond violet is ultraviolet, which we can't see, but is visible to certain insects.