Local color (visual art)

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In painting, local color is the natural color of an object unmodified by adding light and shadow or any other distortion. Local color is best seen on a matte surface, due to it not being reflected, and therefore distorted.

In fine art realism and scientific descriptions of color perception, local color is the color the brain perceives an object to be. This may be radically different from the actual wavelength of light received by the eye. For example, an apple is painted to appear red in comparison to the colors around it, but the actual pigment mixture used may be a pale green. This effect, known as color constancy, can also be observed under colored lighting in reality, and in photographs with strong color tints such as The Dress.

In contemporary sculpture local color is the original color of raw material that remains unpainted in the completed work.

External links

Local color at ArtLex

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Color topics

Color science

Color physics	Electromagnetic spectrum Light Rainbow Visible Spectral colors Chromophore Structural coloration Animal coloration Color of chemicals Water Spectral power distribution Colorimetry
Color perception	Chromesthesia Sonochromatism Color blindness Achromatopsia Dichromacy Color calibration Color constancy Color task Color code Color temperature Color vision test Evolution of color vision Impossible colors Metamerism Opponent process Afterimage Unique hues Tetrachromacy The dress
Color psychology	Color symbolism Color preferences Lüscher color test Kruithof curve Political color National colors Chromophobia Chromotherapy
Color reproduction	Color photography Color balance Color cast Digital image processing Color management Color printing Multi-primary color display Quattron Color model additive RGB subtractive CMYK Color space Color mapping

Color
philosophy

Color scheme	Color tool Monochromatic colors black-and-white Complementary colors Analogous colors Achromatic colors (Neutral) Polychromatic colors Light-on-dark Web colors Tinctures in heraldry
Color theory	Color mixing Primary color Secondary color Chromaticity Color solid Color wheel Color triangle Color analysis (fashion) Color realism (art style) On Vision and Colours (Schopenhauer) Theory of Colours (Goethe)

Color terms

Basic terms	Blue Green Red Yellow Pink Purple Orange Black Gray White Brown
Cultural differences	Linguistic relativity and the color naming debate Blue–green distinction in language Color history Black-and-white dualism Blue in culture Color in Chinese culture Traditional colors of Japan Human skin color
Color dimensions	Hue Dichromatism Colorfulness Pastel colors Luminance Lightness Darkness Brightness Iridescence Fluorescence Grayscale Tint, shade and tone

Color
organizations

Names

Lists	List of colors: A–F List of colors: G–M List of colors: N–Z List of colors (compact) List of colors by shade List of color palettes List of color spaces List of Crayola crayon colors history Color chart List of RAL colors List of web colors
Shades of:	Red Orange Yellow Green Cyan Blue Violet Purple Magenta Pink Brown White Gray Black