When it comes to creating art, color harmonies are essential. The ability to find perfect color combinations that work together seamlessly is both an art and a science. That’s where color theory comes in. By using the color wheel and basic formulas known as color harmonies, you can create color combinations that are cohesive, visually appealing, and beautiful.
Color harmonies can evoke certain emotions, create a mood, or add context to your images. Without them, artwork can appear bland and boring or chaotic and confusing. At its most basic level, the color wheel is divided into primary, secondary, and tertiary colors. The primary colors are red, blue, and yellow, which when combined make secondary colors like green, orange, and purple. Tertiary colors, such as yellow-green and red-orange, can be made by taking it a step further.
Although the traditional color wheel created by Sir Isaac Newton is still widely used, other color wheels and methods are also used by artists and designers to create a bigger range of colors. When it comes to choosing color combinations, the traditional color wheel is still the best resource for understanding color harmony and how colors work together to create beautiful art.
There are four main qualities of each color on the wheel: hue, saturation, value, and temperature. Hue is simply the color position around the wheel and the brightest, purest version of each color. Saturation, also known as intensity or chroma, tells us how vibrant a color is. Value tells us how dark or light a color is, and temperature refers to whether a color is warm or cool.
By combining hue, saturation, value, and temperature, artists and designers can create an endless collection of color combinations that look balanced, appealing, and just work. Formulas known as color harmonies provide a guide to create colors that work well together. These color harmonies include monochromatic, complementary, split complementary, triadic, tetradic, and analogous.
A monochromatic color harmony uses different shades, tones, or tints of one base color or hue from the wheel and creates a group of colors. It looks simple, cohesive, and organized. A complementary color scheme takes two colors from opposite sides of the color wheel, such as red and green or blue and orange. This type of color scheme is great for creating strong contrast in your image. A split complementary color scheme is similar to a complementary color scheme, except one of the colors is split into two nearby colors. This keeps the high contrast of the complementary color scheme, but also adds more variety. A triadic color scheme uses three colors that are evenly spaced around the color wheel like a triangle and often creates bold and vibrant color combinations. Tetradic colors are four colors in a rectangle shape made up of two sets of complementary colors together as one palette. These palettes work best when you focus on one main color and use the other colors as contrasting accents. An analogous color scheme uses two to four colors that are next to each other on the color wheel. It is one of the simplest and most appealing color harmonies and works best if you choose one dominant color and use the other colors as accents.
To create colors that work well together, start by picking one dominant color. Whichever color harmony you choose, using one dominant color will create a sense of balance in your design. Next, use just a few colors. Adding too many colors can quickly become overwhelming or chaotic to your viewers. Finally, use color palettes for inspiration. Learning the rules of color theory can help you know what works well together, but it doesn’t mean you have to start from scratch every time. You can find color palettes inspired by nature or existing designs that naturally incorporate colors that look good together.
Choosing good color combinations doesn’t have to be hard, and challenging yourself to use some of these tools and formulas can expand your skills and help you to be creative in a whole new way.