The 12 colour RYB (or artistic) colour wheel This colour wheel or colour circle is one of the basic tools for combining colors. This example shows the 12 colour RYB (red, yellow, blue) colour model.

Colour wheel Here are others Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ARGV_color_wheel_1908.png By J. Arthur H. Hatt (The Colorist) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Make a simple Red:Yellow:Blue colour wheel Mixing the 3 primary colours creates the secondary colours, which mix to create the tertiary colours, as so forth Primary Colours (blue/yellow/red) - these can't be made by mixing others together Secondary Colours (purple/green/orange) can be made by mixing the primary colours Tertiary Colours from mixing primary and secondary colours

Complementary colours blue Colours opposite each other on the colour wheel are known as complementary colours Green Purple Red Green blue Orange Yellow Purple Yellow Red Orange Red/Yellow/Blue (RYB) Colour Wheel

Complementary colours Complementary colour schemes are highly contrasting and vibrant Useful for drawing attention or for making things stand out These combinations can sometimes be jarring - complimentary colours are often bad for text Red on Green Green on Red

Complementary colours The complementary colours of the 3 primary colours: yellow red blue are found from mixing the other two to form secondary colours: red + blue = purple blue + yellow = green red + yellow = orange

Complementary colours Complementary colour schemes are visually very high contrast, but can sometimes be jarring

Complementary colours The shadow of an object will also contain its complementary colour, for example the shadow of a red apple will contain green If you look at a colour for long enough then look at a white background, you may see the complimentary colour for a second Look at the following coloured slides then look at the white - do you see the complimentary colour for a split second when you look at the white background?

Triadic colours blue Triadic colour schemes use colours that are evenly spaced around the colour wheel Triadic colour schemes are quite vibrant Green Purple Yellow Red Yellow Blue Red Orange Green Purple Orange

Triadic colours To use a triadic harmony successfully, the colours should be carefully balanced - let one color dominate and use the two others for accent/emphasis Yellow Blue Red Green Purple Orange

Analogous colours blue Analogous colours are next to each other on the colour wheel They usually match to create serene, natural-looking and comfortable designs. Often harmonious and pleasing to the eye Green Purple Yellow Red Orange

Analogous colours Make sure you have enough contrast when choosing an analogous colour scheme Choose one colour to dominate, a second to support. The third colour is used (along with black, white or gray) as an accent/emphasis

Split-complementary colours Split-complementary colours are the 2 colours adjacent to the complementary colour Split-complementary colours are contrasting, but not not as vibrant as complementary colours Split-complementary colours are safer and easier to use than complemetary colours

Rectangle (tetradic) and Square colours The rectangle (tetradic) uses four colours arranged into two complementary pairs. The tetradic color scheme works best if you let one color be dominant with a balance of warm and cool colors

Square colours The square color scheme is similar to the rectangle, but with all four colors spaced evenly around the color circle.