Colours - a Basic Guide

Colour Wheel.

By Amy Akerman.

This is a basic colour wheel, made from Primary, Secondary and Tertiary colours. Being an artist means working with colour and its good to know the basics.

Did you know, Sir Isaac Newton developed the first circular diagram of colours in 1666? 

Primary - The primary colours are the 3 pigment colours that can not be mixed or formed by any combination of other colours. All other colours are derived from these 3 hues.

Secondary - These are the colours made by mixing the primary colours.

Tertiary - These colours are formed by mixing a primary and secondary colour.

Basic Colour Harmony.

Oxford Dictionary - The combination of simultaneously sounded musical notes to produce a pleasing effect and The quality of forming a pleasing and consistent whole.

In visual experiences, harmony is something visually pleasing to the eye, engaging and balanced. The opposite of this, the non-harmonious experience is either boring or chaotic. There are many theories for harmony, such as:

Analogous colours- These are three colours sat side by side on the 12 part colour wheel.

Complementary colours- These are any two colours sat directly opposite each other on the colour wheel.

Natural colour scheme - The theory that if it works in nature it will work in art.

Colour in context.

This theory is that of how colour behaves in relation to others surrounding it.

                                       
                                                         ©ColourVoodoo.com

Red appears brighter against black, and muter against white.It contrasts with the orange, making it look dull and contrasts with the blue, making it more eye catching.

                                             
                                                         ©ColourVoodoo.com

While being rather  dependant on your computer screen, this purple image shows the different reading your eyes make of the same colour. The two centre rectangles are in fact the same colour, your brain reads them differently because of the surrounding colours.

That's the basics, to find out more, type colour theory into Google.