Color Wheel and some basic color theory for art.

This is an unpainted color wheel. If you copy and paste it to a word document and enlarge it on to the page
you can then paint it in. Try mixing
Blue and Red to get the violet Of there
is more red than Blue it will go in the
space between red and violet and this is
called red violet. If it has more blue
then red it is called blue violet and goes
in the space between blue and violet.

Do the same thing with Red and Yellow

Finally Mix the Blue and Yellow

Looking back at what I shared in

naming blue violet and red violet can
you name the in-between colors that
are more yellow than red and more red
than yellow?

These unnamed in-between colors are

called tertiary colors
 Pri
ma
ry
Co
Primary Colors are the colors that lor
most other colors can be made from.
There are three primary colors: Red,
Yellow and Blue. For the purposes
of art the Theory of color mixing
works if one just happens to have a
true Blue, True Red and True Yellow.
As it goes most of the materials man
has to make paint pigment often has
traces of the other primary colors in
them. This may be why you weren’t
able to get very good violets when
mixing your secondary and tertiary
colors

P
R P
I R
M I
A M
R A
R
Y

Secondary Colors are the result of mixing equal amounts of any two Primary Colors

2n
da
ry

Secondary

ondary
Sec
Sometimes I spell color (American spelling) and sometimes colour (British/Australian spelling) It comes
from growing up in one country and teaching in another. As I know my readership is likely to be around the
world I tend to just let both pop up as it will.

I intend to include more color wheel theory and color blending in this section at a later date. It will include
tinting and toning and things like analogous colours.

There are a few exercises below.

Above are some color experiments. Ask yourself questions about each. Some examples might be:
What colors are dominate? How does each picture make me feel? Do some pictures seem stronger than
others? Why? The more you reflect on where and why you put down various colors in a picture the more
control you have over what your picture communicates.

Now I will provide you with the same picture without color. Print it out and do your own experiments.
Or copy and paste
into a painting
program to fill in
your own colors
Ok here’s your next challenge. Do a net search of paintings done at different times of day and different
conditions. Eg. Sunrise paintings, Sunset paintings, Rainy day, Mist, High Noon, Cloudy. In the next
picture which I’ve provided paint it using the colors and mood of each of your research. There will be more
than one copy of the picture so you can see the different effects of color.
In the next few pics observe how the picture changes. Color can be applied in many different ways.

Some of the sky is applied watery and parts with a dry stroke. The water is a flat color with lines and shapes
of color placed over the top to make it seem liquid. The types of lines and direction provide a feeling that
the water is moving.

The land forms are just

different coloured shapes. To
get atmospheric perspective
make those in the distance
less detailed and somewhat
blurred. Put detail and more
variety in your close areas. I
attempted to make the close
water transparent by allowing
the fish in the water to be
seen. It was important to
color them so that they
somewhat blend into the
water which is best shown
with the shark.