Color Wheel Basics

Primary colors cannot be made by any other colors.

Secondary colors are made by combining two primary colors

Complementary colors are opposites on the color wheel

Complementary Colors

Pink (red) flowers set in a

green grass background

makes them brighter and

seem to “pop out”.

Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose by John Silver Sargent

Analogous Colors

Colors that are next

to each other on

the color wheel

work well together.

Analogous Colors

Sunflowers

by Vincent Van Gogh

Warm Colors

Warm colors are red, orange, and yellow combinations.

The Fighting Temeraire by J.M.W. Turner

Cool Colors

Blues, greens and purples are cool colors.

They create a relaxing and peaceful feeling.

White Barn by Georgia O’Keeffe