Color theory might sound boring but it is actually interesting and very helpful to learn about. Everyone who works in visualization such as designers and artists needs to know color theory and common color schemes. This helps them have a better selection of colors and guides them in mixing color paints.
If you are on your journey to become an artist, you cannot ignore color theory. So what is it about? Let’s dive in!
According to Maryville University, color theory is the art of combining colors based on the color wheel, an organized illustration of the primary, secondary, and tertiary colors. Different artists have different ways to combine colors, which results in their unique art styles.
Before we jump into combining colors, let’s spend some time learning more about the three elements of color and other important color schemes first!
Three Elements of Color: Hue, Saturation, Value
Hue
In color theory, hue is one of the three properties of color. Hue refers to the dominant color or pigment without black or white added to it, which can be differentiated from another hue. There are six popular hues that we usually call red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet.
Saturation
Saturation is one of the three important attributes of color in color theory. Saturation of color refers to the density of the color. Think of watercolor paints as an example. The paints include pigments. We need to mix the pigments with water before painting. The more pigments in the brush strokes, the higher the saturation is.
In watercolor painting, you may need to paint more than one layer to get the desired saturation of colors.
Value
Value is very important in art and design. In color theory, value refers to the darkness and lightness of a color.
We can see objects and their colors because the light reaches the surface of the objects and reflects to our eyes. At night or in a dark room, we can hardly see things because of limited light.
On the color value scale, we say a color has a high value when it’s light, and a color has a low value when it’s dark. We can check the value of a painting by taking a photo of it and changing it to the Black & White mode.
Understanding light, colors, and how they work together will help you create a painting that has more depth, harmony, and focus. A good painting usually has a wide range of color values.
Color Tints, Color Tones, and Color Shades
When mixing colors, we can get color tints, tones, and shades. So what are they?
Color Tints
Color tints can be achieved by mixing hues with white paint. Color tints are lighter variations of pure saturated colors.
Color Shades
When adding black paint to a pure color, we get shades of that color. A shade of a color is a darker variation of a pure saturated color.
Color Tones
We can get color tones by adding gray (or grey) paint to pure colors.
There are unlimited tints, shades, and tones of a color, depending on how much white, black, and gray paints you use when mixing colors.
Color Wheel
A color wheel is a tool for artists and designers to color their artwork and mix colors based on color theory. It helps them choose the colors that work well together to reach color harmony.
Colors can create a mood for a painting such as making the audience happy, sad, feel loved, and so on. Using different color combinations from the color wheel is a way to create paintings that trigger feelings.
A color wheel contains primary colors, secondary colors, and tertiary colors.
Primary Colors
In color theory, primary colors are pure colors that cannot be created by mixing other colors. Primary colors are the starting points of other colors. Secondary and tertiary colors are created by mixing primary colors.
There are three primary colors: red, yellow, and blue.
Secondary Colors
Mixing two primary colors at a ratio of 1:1, we will get secondary colors.
- red + yellow = orange
- yellow + blue = green
- blue + red = purple
Tertiary Colors
Tertiary colors are created by mixing a primary color with a secondary color next to it on a color wheel.
- red + orange = red-orange
- yellow + orange = yellow-orange
- yellow + green = yellow-green
- blue + green = blue-green
- blue + purple = blue-purple
- red + purple = red-purple
Complementary Colors
Complementary colors are colors that stay opposite to each other on a color wheel. For example, red and green, purple and yellow, and blue and orange are three pairs of complementary colors. Those colors when put together will intensify the appearance of each other.
Monochromatic Colors
Monochromatic colors include a pure color (hue) and its tints and shades. A monochromatic painting is easy for our eyes to look at because the colors are close to each other. Using monochromatic colors can bring a smooth gradient effect.
Analogous Colors
Three or more colors that stay next to each other on a color wheel are analogous. For example, orange, red-orange, and red are analogous colors. Analogous colors can be used to create a gradient of color.
Triadic Colors
Triadic colors contain three colors that stay apart evenly on a color wheel. For example, red, yellow, and blue are triadic colors.
What Are Cool and Warm Colors?
In color theory, cool and warm colors (color temperature) do not refer to the physical temperature of color paints but are more about the psychological triggers that make us feel cool or warm when we look at them.
From the image, we can see the group of warm colors and cool colors. Warm colors include yellow, yellow-orange, orange, red-orange, red, and red-violet. Cool colors include violet, blue-violet, blue, blue-green, green, and yellow-green.
There are many different variants of the same dominant hue in watercolor paints, such as Indian Yellow and Lemon Yellow. Surprisingly, Lemon Yellow is a cool yellow color. This leads us to the concept of “color bias” which will be explained further in the next section.
What is Color Bias?
Almost all watercolor paints are biased toward another primary color because they have some pigments of that color. For example, a cool yellow contains some blue while a warm yellow contains some red. We will say that a cool yellow is biased toward blue and a warm yellow is biased toward red.
Color bias is important in color mixing because different colors behave differently when they are mixed with another color. For instance, mixing a warm yellow with a warm blue results in a warm and more natural green color while mixing a cool yellow with a cool blue results in a vibrant and artificial green color.
The Takeaway
Color theory gives artists more guidelines about colors and how to use them in their creative process. Using a color wheel and understanding color temperature and color bias will help watercolor artists mix colors better. For more watercolor tips, sign up for my newsletter to receive the tips and more via email.
