Basic Color Theory
Basic Color Theory reviews the color wheel and the 12 hues of the spectrum including warm and cool hues, explains the
primary, secondary and tertiary colors and how to mix them, defines complementary colors, monochromatic, analagous, and reviews local color including hue, value, intensity and chroma.
Carol Santora, PSA, is an award-winning contemporary animal artist living in Kennebunk, Maine, specializing in animal and wildlife paintings and pet portraits of cows, horses, sheep, farm and domestic animals, dogs and cats, the big cats, moose, bear in pastel and acrylic.
Color Wheel
12 hues of the spectrum:
Warm Hues:
- Yellow
- Yellow-orange
- Orange
- Red-orange
- Red
- Red-violet
Cool Hues:
- Violet
- Blue-violet
- Blue
- Blue-green
- Green
- Yellow-green
Primary Colors: Red, Yellow & Blue
These colors cannot be mixed from any other colors. The triangle they form on the color wheel is called the primary triad.
When two primaries are mixed, secondary colors are formed:
- red & yellow = Orange
- red & blue = Violet
- yellow & blue = Green
Orange, violet and green form the secondary triad.
When a primary color is mixed with a secondary color tertiary colors are made:
- yellow & green = Yellow-green
- green & blue = Blue-green
- blue & violet = Blue-violet
- violet & red = Red-violet
- red & orange = Red-orange
- orange & yellow = Yellow-orange
Complementary colors are colors that lie opposite each other on the color wheel.
The 3 major complementary pairs are: yellow & violet, blue & orange, and red & green.
The intermediate/tertiary colors all have intermediate complements:
- red-orange & blue-green
- yellow-orange & blue-violet
- yellow-green & red-violet
When complementary colors are mixed, they usually produce a neutral gray.
When white is added to a color it becomes a tint.
When a color has been lowered in value by adding its complement or black, it is called a shade of the color.
Monochromatic color - color scheme using one hue plus white, neutral gray or black.
Analogous colors - three to five colors next to each other on the color wheel. They are more
harmonious because they have a common primary color present in all of them.
Local Color - the actual color of an object; its middle tone.
The four characteristics of local color are:
- hue - the color of the object: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet
- value/tone - lightness or darkness
- intensity/chroma - brightness or dullness
- temperature - warmth or coolness
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