Choosing colors is a careful business, and not just when it comes to paint.
Youve probably seen it in school, but heres a quick refresher just in case youve forgotten.
Red, blue, and yellow are primary colors.
Orange, green and violet are hence called secondary colors.
Tertiary colors like red-violet and blue-violet are derived by mixing a primary color with a secondary color.
All colors have tints and shades.
The harmonious color combinations are called color schemes sometimes the term color harmonies is also used.
Color schemes remain harmonious regardless of the rotation angle.
Each has its own purpose to convey emotions.
And theyre actually pretty simple.
Complementary colorsare any two colors opposite each other on the wheel.
For example, blue and orange, or red and green.
These create a high contrast, so use them when you want something to stand out.
Ideally, use one color as background and the other as accents.
Split complementary colorsuse three colors.
The scheme takes one color and matches it with the two colors adjacent to its complementary color.
For example, blue, yellow-orange and red-orange.
This scheme is ideal for beginners because it is difficult to mess up.
Analogous colorsare any three colors next to each other on the wheel.
For example, orange, yellow-orange, and yellow.
With analogous colors, its best to avoid hues as they can be jarring.
Instead, focus on tints of analogous colors.
Another tipColor Wheel Pro sharesis to avoid combining warm and cool colors in this scheme.
Triadic colorsare any three colors that are equally apart on the color wheel.
For example, red, yellow and blue.
The Triadic scheme is also high-contrast, but more balanced than complementary colors.
Tetradic or double complementary colorsuses four colors together, in the form of two sets of complementary colors.
For example, blue and orange is paired with yellow and violet.
Avoid using pure colors in equal amounts.
And this goes on till you get pure white or pure black.
Apart from tints and shades, there are also tones, which is mixing the hue with grey.
Using saturation and tint/shade variations of a color is always good.
Using it with pure white or black can be efficient, though.
A scheme like this can be efficient, but it can very easily look boring.
Using an achromatic scheme with just one bright color for highlight can be very effectful.
But like with anything, theres an easy way out!
Public speaking expert Zach Holman says you canuse web sites where designers suggest color palettes, likeColourLovers.
Though its not exactly the same,ColorSnapis a good option for iPhones.
it’s crucial that you take a photo and the app then identifies various colors in it.
you might ignore that part and just use the palette for reference.
Essentially, these concepts help you figure out how to make things look better.
A common utility is in the clothes you wear.
Print out the color wheel and stick it to your wardrobes door.
Of course, colors areonly a partoflearning to dress better.
Use the right colors for your skin tone and coloration.
Try different colors against your skin and learn which palettes look best on you.
Also, get a second opinion.
Never use holiday colors like red and green unless it is close to that holiday.
Avoid matching gray colors with bright colors such as yellow.
Again, the general rule of thumb is to restrict yourself to three colors or less.
You should alsocheck this color psychology chartto figure outwhat vibesyour chosen colors will give out.
That means colors with a lot of contrast.
For example, choose a dark, a light, and an accent.
Paint is not permanent and you might always change it.
Of course, these arent the only uses for color theory.
