In this article I am going to talk about color wheel and how it can help you in your photographs. But not only in photography, for any other trade this article will serve you. Knowing the color wheel and color theory is essential in design, graphic design, fashion, film, painting, cooking, advertising, decoration, marketing and sales, and much more.
I am going to explain to you what the color circle is, what are analogous, complementary, cold, warm, primary, secondary colors and everything related to this wheel. In addition, I will tell you how the colors interact with each other, what the different combinations transmit and what it means that of color psychology that you have ever heard.
In this way, you will understand how color influences your work and you will have the opportunity to improve them in a very simple way.
Although it may seem somewhat confusing, I promise to explain it to you in the simplest way possible and get to the point.
- What is the color wheel?
- What are the primary colors?
- What are the secondary colors?
- What are the tertiary colors?
- What are analogous colors?
- What are complementary colors?
- Other color wheel combinations
- cold and warm colors
- color proportions
- Color psychology
- Notes on photography and color
- Practical exercise
Before continuing, if you are looking to improve your photographic compositions, I recommend our mega guide on Photographic composition full of essential tips and tricks.
What is the color wheel?
The color wheel is an ordered graphical representation of the colors in the form of a circle. It segments the colors based on their tone or hue and captures the primary colors and their derivatives: secondary and tertiary colors. It is also known as a chromatic or color wheel.
There are different color wheels and it is not something new, Newton and Goethe, among others, already worked with them in their day. In fact, Leon Battista Alberti already in 1436 created a wheel with what were the four primary colors of his time: red, blue, green and yellow.
The basic color wheel is the one that consists of 12 colors, like the one in the following graphic, although you can find them with many more colors, shapes and gradients.
12 color color wheel with primary, secondary and tertiary colors
Next, we have a full color wheel of 18 colors with their gradients, this is the Moses Harris color wheel of the s. XVIII.
By the way, if you want to see this highly summarized information at a glance, don’t miss our infographic on color in photography.
What are the primary colors on the color wheel?
The primary colors of the chromatic circle are those that cannot be obtained by mixing any other color. Are the redthe yellow and the blue and are equidistant on the color wheel.
What are the secondary colors on the color wheel?
The secondary colours of the chromatic circle are those that arise from the mixture, in a 1:1 proportion, of the primary colors: green, orange Y purple.
- green: yellow + blue
- orange: red + yellow
- violet: red + blue
What are the tertiary colors on the color wheel?
The Tertiary colors are those that result from the mixture of a primary color with a secondary color, such as bluish violet.
What are analogous colors?
The analogous colors they are those that are in contiguous positions of the chromatic circle. Their combination is very pleasing to the eye because they reflect similar light waves. The harmony between similar colors is very evident and with them, environments that transmit calm and balance are created.
analogous colors
Analogous color combinations are usually limited to three, or at most up to five contiguous colors.
What are complementary colors?
The complementary colors are those that are in opposite positions on the color wheel: red and green, blue and orange or yellow and violet.
Harmony through complementary colors is based on contrast and the effect it provokes, in addition, in reality, the mixture of two opposites in the circle gives rise to a neutral. But keep in mind that using the contrast of complementary visually works very well.
Other color wheel combinations
In addition to analogous and complementary colors, we find other color combinations within the color wheel:
color triads
The triads are the combinations formed by the colors arranged at the vertices of an equilateral triangle within the chromatic circle. It turns out another way to achieve a harmonic feeling.
The ideal is to choose a dominant color, another that supports and a last one that makes contrast. Or a dominant color and two others that accompany it.
color triad
This three-color combination is similar to the one depicted in this photograph. The dominant would be violet, green as support and golden yellow to contrast.
Quadriad
A quadrad it is the combination of colors formed by those that are in the corners of a square within a chromatic circle. It is also known as tetradic scheme. It is another combination that creates contrast within a visual order and harmony.
Take a look at this example from the world of cinema taken from Fotogramas magazine:
Tetradic color scheme or color quadriad in cinema
monochrome
Another option that we must not forget is monochrome, which although we associate it with black and white, in reality monochrome is a single color. That is, include a single color or shade with different tints or shades in the frame.
monochrome
The image below is a good example of monochrome photography.
To help you combine all these colors on the color wheel, there is a free tool from Adobe which works very well. You select what type of combination you want and you move the wheel to select the colors. You can also choose a theme color and, from there, create different combinations.
cold and warm colors
The denomination of colors between cold and warm is due to an artistic and psychological classification based on what reasons we associate with certain colors.
Some colors can be considered cool or warm depending on whether they have a greater proportion of a warm or cool color, for example bluish green is considered cool and yellowish green warm.
What are cool colors?
The cold colors are those that include blue, and are associated with the sky and the sea: blue, turquoise, green, violet, etc. They are usually to the left of the color wheel.
What are warm colors?
The warm colors are those that contain red in their composition, are associated with fire and the sun and are yellow, orange, red, brown, gold, etc.
They are generally represented to the right of the color wheel.
color proportions
Colors harmonize better when there is a Balance of pesos, that is, when their areas are inversely proportional to their relative brightness. This is, for example, that since green and red are equally bright, they harmonize better when their ratio is 1:1, or what is the same, they have the same presence in the image.
On the other hand, since orange is twice as bright as blue, the ratio should ideally be 1:2 (orange:blue).
Color balance
In the case of yellow and violet, since they are at the two extremes of brightness, the best combination is 1:3. Let’s look at an example:
Color psychology
We have talked about the chromatic wheel and how the colors of the chromatic circle are related to each other, now we enter a more emotional.
What is color psychology?
The color psychology It is a field of study within behavioral psychology that analyzes how we perceive colors, how we behave towards them and what emotions they arouse in us. Science affirms that each color clearly influences our mood and also our mental state.
Each color awakens a type of emotion in us, from joy to sadness, passing through irritability.
It is also important to keep in mind that a color can vary its meaning or its impact on emotions depending on the culture.
Believe it or not, we apply the psychology of color in our daily lives, for example, when choosing the clothes that we are going to wear or when deciding what color to paint a room in the house.
Companies also take it into account. Advertising, designers or vendors, for example, are very aware of the effects of color on us and use it very, very well.
The cinema is another clear example. In the event that you are a very cinephile person, you will have already realized how color can to direct a scene or even an entire movie. If you are curious to see what palettes have been used in certain movies, you can see on Twitter the posts of @CINEMAPALETTES .
Let’s see what impact each of the colors has on us, what will help you when composing your photos or using it in your work. You have the power to awaken emotions simply by choosing the colors of the chromatic circle well, are you going to waste it?
Meaning of colors according to Color Psychology
We are going to see in more detail what each of the main colors of the color wheel and the neutrals (white, black and gray) mean.
Yellow
It is so bright that there is no dark version of this color. It transmits verve, joy, happiness, optimism, speed and friendliness.
In its negative part, aggressiveness, fear, jealousy and envy.
When you combine it with black it contrasts very well, but on the other hand, it indicates a certain sign of danger (in fact, it is the combination used to indicate toxic or explosive substances).
Orange
It is associated with youth, parties, energy, celebrations and fun.
It is also suitable for conveying dryness and evoking warmth; associated with frustration or immaturity.
Red
It is the most energetic and exciting color. It conveys passion, action and movement, daring, masculinity, importance and strength.
In the foreground it emphasizes the sensation of depth because it tends to advance.
It also evokes aggression, risk, challenge.
Green
All its positive symbolism comes from the fact that it is the most present color in nature. It is associated with organic, progress, hope, awareness, harmony, peace, vigor and rejuvenation.
In its negative form it is related to illness, decomposition or boredom.
Blue
It is the coldest color and is associated with…