Color Theory

complementary color scheme

A color scheme that uses colors opposite each other on the color wheel. Example: yellow and violet.

analogous color scheme

A color scheme that uses hues next to each other on the color wheel. Example: red, red-violet and red-orange.

monochromatic colors

A color scheme that uses only one color with tints, shades and tones of that color.

secondary colors

Colors (orange, green, violet) made by mixing equal parts of two primary colors together.

tertiary colors

Colors located between primary and secondary colors on the color wheel, created by mixing any adjacent primary and secondary color. Examples: red-orange, yellow-green, blue-violet.

analogous colors

Colors that are adjacent on the color wheel. These colors will have a similar temperature and hue.

warm colors

Colors that are on one side of the color wheel that elicit a feeling of warmth, associated with the sun and fire in nature, active, advancing, for example, red, orange and yellow.

cool colors

Colors that elicit a feeling of coolness, associated with the sky, air, water or grass in nature, calm, receding, for example, blue, green, purple.

complementary colors

Colors which appear opposite each other on the color wheel. These colors complete each other on the color spectrum.

primary colors

The basic colors (red, yellow, blue) that cannot be created by combining other colors and from which all other colors can be made.

color temperature

The characteristic of a color which makes it appear either warm or cool in feeling. Red, orange, and yellow are usually considered warm, while colors containing blue are regarded as being cool.