Everyone loves color! Some are drawn to bright vibrant colors others to pastel colors. Whatever colors you love it can sometimes be hard figuring out what colors go together when creating a project. Here is where I come in with a lesson in color theory! I have broken down color theory into four parts so you can begin to understand how colors work in tandem with one another. Before we begin, lets get a better understanding of color terms.
Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Colors
Primary Colors: Red, Blue and Yellow. These are the main color components of all colors and form a triangle on the color wheel.
Secondary Colors: Violet (Purple), Orange and Green. These are the products of mixing red & blue (violet), red & yellow (orange) and blue & yellow (green). These will also form a triangle between the colors that they are composed of.
Tertiary Colors: These are when you combine a primary color with a secondary color. An example would be Red-Violet, this would be mixing violet and red. Another, would be Blue-Green which is blue and green. These will between the two colors that make up that color on the wheel.
Warm Colors: These evoke a sense of warmth think red, orange and yellow.
Cool Colors: These colors give a sense of cool like snow or water and would be blue, purple and green.
Choosing Colors That Work Together
Now that you have the different types of color under your belt, I will show you how to use your color wheel to help you pick the perfect colors for your projects!
Complementary Colors: These are colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel. Think orange and blue, yellow and Violet (purple), red and green, or red violet and yellow green.
Monochromatic Colors: These are colors that are in the same color family but may have different tones and shades, Think all blues, purples or pinks. Usually paired with white.
Analogous Colors: These are colors that are next to each other on the color wheel.
Triadic Colors: This group of colors will form a triangle on the color wheel.
Other Terms You Should Know
Shades, Tints and Tone: These are created by adding black, white or gray to a base color. Adding black will give a richer color shade. A tint will be a lighter form of a color by adding white. If you mix black and white you get gray, this can be added to a base color to change its tone.
Hue: Another name for a base color on the color wheel
Saturation: The intensity of a color think going from a bright red to a darker crimson.
Luminance: This is the amount of lightness in a color think going from a bright blue to a very pale blue.
As always, if you have any questions please reach out to me at any time!
