Hello and welcome dear reader, put your feet up and grab a coffee and let's talk about colour theory.
There are three primary colours, Red, Blue and Yellow. These are colours that can not be created by mixing other colours together. And with these three colours it is possible to mix all the other colours on the wheel.
Following on from primary you get secondary colours. Red and blue make purple. Red and yellow make orange and yellow and blue make green.
Tertiary colours are produced by mixing a secondary colour with a primary. Red orange, yellow orange, yellow green, blue green, blue violet and red violet.
Hue is the colour itself, you can change the value or strength of a colour by altering the tint, shade or tone.
Tint is when you add white to the hue making it lighter.
Shade is when you add black to the hue to make it darker.
Tone is when you add grey to the hue to lessen the intensity of the hue.
Saturation purity and intensity of the colour
Luminance the amount of light or brightness of a colour.
Play with colour
Acrylic paint, oil paints, watercolours are all great mediums for creating a colour wheel and then practicing mixing secondary and tertiary colours.
I recommend creating a colour wheel and having a play around mixing colours.
Trust me, I was amazed when I made a flesh tone! Start with red and blue to make purple and then add small amounts of that base purple to yellow. Playing with primary colours is the best way to develop your ability with mixing.
Complimentary colours
Colours opposite each other on the colour wheel are complimentary. Red and Green are a good example of this.
Analogous colours
Are the colours side by side on the colour wheel. In this example the three colours are yellow through yellow green and blue green. It is usual for one of the colours to be dominant.
Monochromatic colours
One colour which has been altered with either white, black or grey. This is a monochromatic palette it is very effective and is used often in interior design to create a pleasing living space.
From the wheel you can devise a colour palette, knowing that these colours will work well together and give you the best result in your finished piece.
The colours on this side of the colour wheel are cool.
The colours on this side of the colour wheel are warm.
