the color wheel

what is a color wheel?

We probably know about the renowned physicist Isaac Newton.

He was most famous for explaining gravity.

He also was the one to devise the theory of light and color in the 1600s.

He noticed that when light goes through a prism it is divided into colors. It is divided into the colors of the rainbow.

The colors are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, he added indigo for the dark blue and purple.

Artist have been using it to improve our paintings ever since.

Artists today use this color circle based on twelve colors.

As an artist, it is the basis for our understanding of color.

We use it to select paint colors for our palette.

We use it when choosing colors for a painting.

We use it when we mix colors while we are painting.

Color gives life to our paintings, so let's delve into the color.

what are the primary colors?

Artists use the primary color wheel based on the three colors; red, yellow and blue.

The paint colors closest to the primary colors are Lemon Yellow, Permanent Rose and Thalo Blue.

All other colors can be mixed from these primary colors.

what are the secondary colors?

When we mix two of the primary colors together we get a secondary color.

Yellow and red make orange.

Yellow and blue make green.

And blue and red make purple or violet.

how do you make a tertiary color?

When we mix a primary color with a secondary color, we get intermediate colors called tertiary colors.

For example, the primary color yellow mixed with the secondary green gives us yellow-green.

The six tertiary colors also include; yellow-green, yellow-orange, red-orange, violet-red, blue-violet and blue-green.

There are warm colors and cool colors on the color wheel.

Red, orange and yellow are considered warm colors.

The warm colors appear to advance forward in the painting.

Blue, green and sometimes violet are normally considered cool.

They recede into the distance.

How do we show the form of an object?

Paint the main part of the object that comes toward us with a warmer color.

We painted cooler and darker colors on the edge of the mangoes to show them turning away from our view.

But you say red and orange are both warm colors. You are correct. However orange is a bit warmer than red and yellow is warmer than orange.

If the edge has bright light shining on it, you won't paint it darker, but still paint it cooler to show it turning away.

How does this knowledge help us select paint colors for our palette?

We need a warm and cool version of all our colors.

I use a warm and cool version of each of the six basic colors of the color wheel.

These colors appear in nature in the rainbow.

My palette colors are the colors of the rainbow.