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Basic Color Theory      
& Principles - 2 -       

Content:

1. About Color
2. The 'Color Wheel'
3. Basic Color Terms
4. Warm & Cool Colors
5. Color Relationship
6. Color Perception
7. Mixing a Practical Color-Chart
8. (soon new content)

2. The 'Color Wheel'
to understand the basics of color mixing

To understand how you can achieve a certain color you have to know the mixing works. Let's start with the basic colour theory. The main artist's color system starts with three colors. From them you mix any color you want. In the graphic below I put the basic color spectrum into a circle (as a simplified version of the spectrum itself).

Starting with the basic level - the primary colors - from where you can mix secondary colors, tertiary colors and further and further on. What does this terms mean: 'primary', 'secondary', 'tertiary' etc. ....?
- Primary Colours:

(Red, Yellow and Blue.)

The standard color theory is based on the principle of this three basic colours.
And this three basic colors are named the 'primary colors' - because from here everything starts. None of this 3 colours can be mixed from any other colors. In the graphic below the you can see the primary colors numbered with '1'.

- Secondary Colours:
If you mix 2 of the primary colors in equal quantities you get a 'secondary color'. In the graphic below this secondary colors are numbered with '2'.

- Tertiary Colours:
If you mix 1 primary color in equal quantities with a secondary color next to it you get a 'tertiary colour'. In the graphic below this secondary colors are numbered with '3'.

1 = primary colours  

2 = secondary colours  

3 = tertiary colours  

To name the secondaries: (clockwise from top)
- orange, violet, green;

To name the tertiaries: (clockwise from top)
- yellow-orange, red-orange, red-violet,
  blue-violet, blue-green, yellow-green;

As you can easily see: the basic color wheel shows the results of mixing secondaries or tertiaries from the primaries.

continued on page 3

back to page 1

© 2000 by 'wildbrush' dieter obrecht

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