The Color Wheel Primary Secondary Tertiary

Primary Colors Yellow Red Blue

Secondary Colors Orange Violet Green

Tertiary Colors Yellow-Orange Red-Orange Red-Purple Blue-Purple Blue-Green Yellow-Green

Chroma - Saturation/Intensity - Value

Shade Tint

Yellow-Orange / Blue-Violet Complementary Colors The colors that are positioned opposite one another are complementary colors. Red-Orange / Blue-Green Violet/Yellow Red/Green Yellow-Green / Red-Violet Yellow-Orange / Blue-Violet Orange / Blue

When mixed, complementary colors annihilate each other when mixed to create dark neutrals:

LIGHT & SHADOW ZONES SHADOW ZONE LIGHT ZONE DARK = Intensity (shade) DULL = Saturation (Add Compliment) COOL =Temperature Cool Colors: Blue, Violet, and Green LIGHT ZONE LIGHT = Intensity (tint) BRIGHT = Saturation (Pure chroma) WARM = Temperature Warm Colors: Red, Yellow, and Orange

Warm Colors Active colors will appear to advance when placed against passive hues. Most often warm, saturated, light value hues are "active" and visually advance. Deux fillettes, fond jaune et rouge (Two Girls in a Yellow and Red Interior), Henri Matisse

Fighting Forms, Franz Marc

Cool Colors Cool, low saturated, dark value hues are "passive" and visually recede. Passive colors appear to recede when positioned against active hues. Old Guitarist, Pablo Picasso

Starry Night, Vincent Van Gogh

Color Context Red appears more brilliant against a black background and somewhat duller against the white background. In contrast with orange, the red appears lifeless; in contrast with blue-green, it exhibits brilliance. Notice that the red square appears larger on black than on other background colors.

Red-Purple Rectangle Blue-Purple Rectangle

Different Readings of the Same Color You will saw that the small purple rectangle on the left appeared to have a red-purple tinge when compared to the small purple rectangle on the right. They are both the same color as seen in the illustration below. This demonstrates how three colors can be perceived as four colors.