Colour Theory

Colour theory is an essential part of art. It is an aspect that needs consideration when composing a piece of art, regardless of the medium. The colours you chose can effect the sense of depth, the mood, your intention, how the art is perceived and more. Therefore knowing how colours work with other colours is important.

Primary Colours

Primary colours are those that cannot be made through mixing other colours together. These are red, blue and yellow. They form the basis for most of colour theory.

  

Secondary Colours

Secondary colours are those made from mixing two of the primary colours together.

 Red and Yellow= Orange

  

Red and Blue = Purple

  

Blue and Yellow = Green

  

Colour Wheels

If we put these colours together we can form a colour wheel, alternating primary colours with the respective secondary colour between them, as shown below:

Above is a basic colour wheel with primary and secondary colours. To take the colour wheel further more gradients can be added between the colours to add tertiary colours. Tertiary colours are created when a secondary colour is mixed with either primary colour next to it on the colour wheel.

                               

To take the colour wheel another step further, tone can be added in, as shown below. This shows how colour theory is still used even with different tonal values.

                                        

Complimentary colours

Complimentary colours are those which are opposite each other on the colour wheel. If they are combined they produce black (except if the medium is light in which case they produce white). When placed next to each other they create strong contrasts that can create illusions of depth and distortion.