Grade by Grade
A. Creating and Presenting · Creating Art: The Creative Process, Design and Studio Techniques

Elements of Design: Colour Theory and Colour Schemes

A2.1 C1.1 C2.1About 70 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can describe colour using hue, value and intensity.
  • I can mix tints, shades and tones, and lower intensity using a complement.
  • I can identify and use monochromatic, analogous, complementary, split-complementary, triadic and warm/cool colour schemes.
  • I can choose colours on purpose to create mood, contrast and meaning.

Words to know

hue
The name of a colour family on the colour wheel, such as red, blue-green or yellow-orange.
intensity (saturation)
How bright and pure a colour is, or how dull and greyed it is.
tint
A hue mixed with white; a lighter value.
shade
A hue mixed with black; a darker value.
tone
A hue mixed with grey (or with its complement); a lower intensity.
complementary colours
Colours directly opposite each other on the colour wheel, such as red and green.
analogous colours
Three to five colours next to each other on the colour wheel.
triadic colour scheme
Three colours evenly spaced around the colour wheel, such as red, yellow and blue.
split-complementary
A colour scheme using one hue plus the two hues on either side of its complement.
neutral
A colour such as white, black, grey or brown that does not belong to a strong hue family.

Remember from Grade 8

In Grade 8 you used the 12-hue colour wheel, tertiary and complementary colours, four kinds of colour contrast and achromatic art. In Grade 7 you met analogous schemes and how screens (RGB) and printers (CMYK) make colour. Grade 9 brings it all together: the three properties of colour, mixing with paint, and choosing a colour scheme for a purpose.

Colour is three things at once

Every colour can be described with three properties:

  1. Hue: the colour family (red, blue-green...).
  2. Value: how light or dark it is.
  3. Intensity (also called saturation or chroma): how bright or dull it is.

A fire truck red and a dusty brick red are the same hue, but different in value and intensity. When you can name all three, you can mix almost any colour you see.

YYOORORRVVBVBBGGYGRYBY yellow, O orange, R red,V violet, B blue, G greenPrimary (P): Y, R, Blongest wedgesSecondary (S): O, V, GP + P next to itTertiary (T): YO, RO, RV,BV, BG, YGP + the S next to itWarm half: Y to RVCool half: V to YG
The traditional painter's 12-hue colour wheel (red, yellow, blue primaries). The longest wedges are primaries, the middle ones secondaries, the shortest tertiaries. Colours directly across from each other are complements.

Mixing paint

  • Primaries (red, yellow, blue in the traditional painter's wheel) cannot be mixed from other paints.
  • Secondaries: two primaries: red + yellow = orange, yellow + blue = green, blue + red = violet.
  • Tertiaries: a primary + the secondary next to it, such as yellow + green = yellow-green.

In real paint, the result depends on the exact pigments. A red that leans toward orange and a blue that leans toward green both contain a little yellow, so together they make a dull, brownish violet. A red that leans toward violet (like magenta) and a blue that leans toward violet (like ultramarine) make a much clearer violet. That is why many painters keep two versions of each primary, one leaning each way. Printers use cyan, magenta and yellow as primaries for the same reason.

Changing value and intensity

  • Tint: add white. Add colour to white a little at a time, not white to colour (you will use less paint).
  • Shade: add black, a tiny bit at a time. Black is strong. Many painters darken with a darker hue (such as blue-violet) instead, because black can make colours look muddy.
  • Tone: add grey, or add a little of the complement. Red with a touch of green becomes a softer, earthy red. Equal-ish amounts of two complements make a rich brown or grey neutral.
tints: + whitetones: + greyshades: + blackpure huemore added
One hue, blue, changed three ways. A tint adds white (lighter value), a tone adds grey (lower intensity), a shade adds black (darker value). The hue stays blue in every box; only value and intensity change.

Colour schemes

A colour scheme is a planned group of colours. Choosing one gives a work unity.

  • Monochromatic: one hue in many tints, tones and shades. Calm, unified, sometimes moody.
  • Analogous: neighbours on the wheel (yellow, yellow-orange, orange). Harmonious and natural, like an autumn maple.
  • Complementary: opposites (blue and orange). Maximum contrast and energy; side by side they make each other look brighter.
  • Split-complementary: one hue plus the two neighbours of its complement (blue with red-orange and yellow-orange). Strong contrast but easier to balance than pure complements.
  • Triadic: three evenly spaced hues (red, yellow, blue). Bold and lively.
  • Warm or cool: warm hues (reds, oranges, yellows) seem to advance and feel energetic; cool hues (blues, greens, violets) seem to recede and feel calm or cold.
complementaryR and GanalogousYG, Y, YOtriadicY, R, Bsplit-complementaryB, RO, YOmonochromaticB + tints, shades
Five colour schemes shown on the wheel. Complements sit opposite; analogous colours are neighbours; a triad is evenly spaced (a triangle); a split-complement uses one hue plus the two neighbours of its complement; monochromatic uses one hue in many values.

Colour and meaning

Colours affect mood, but their meanings are learned, and they change across cultures and contexts. Red can mean danger, love, celebration or good luck. In Canada, red and white are national colours. In many Chinese communities, red is worn for luck at Lunar New Year and weddings; white is associated with mourning in some cultures and with weddings in others. So when you choose colours for a message, think about who will see it.

Artists also use expressive colour: colour chosen for feeling, not realism. A face painted green can suggest illness, envy or something otherworldly. Expressionist painters in Europe in the early 1900s used colour this way, and Canada's Group of Seven painted northern Ontario landscapes with bold, intensified colour rather than exact copies of what they saw.

Worked example

Let's choose a colour scheme for a purpose

Task: Design a poster for a winter carnival in your town. It should feel lively and also cold and snowy.

  1. Identify the needs: lively → contrast and energy; cold and snowy → cool hues, lots of white and light values.
  2. Consider schemes: monochromatic blue would feel cold but calm, not lively. Complementary blue and orange gives cold plus energy.
  3. Choose and adjust: a split-complementary scheme: blue (main, for snow shadows and sky) with red-orange and yellow-orange accents (scarves, lanterns, the title).
  4. Plan values and proportions: about 70% cool blues and white tints, about 20% neutrals, about 10% warm accents. Small warm areas against large cool areas will jump forward.
  5. Place emphasis: the event title in yellow-orange on a dark blue band: highest contrast in hue and value.
  6. Check meaning: blue and white suggest winter and snow; warm accents suggest fun and warmth (hot chocolate, bonfire) without losing the wintry feeling.

A split-complementary scheme of blue with red-orange and yellow-orange accents, mostly cool tints with small warm accents, gives a poster that feels both cold and lively, with the strongest contrast at the title.

Use less of the strong colour

Complementary schemes look best when one colour dominates and the other is an accent. Fifty-fifty red and green can look like a holiday decoration fighting itself; 80% green with small red accents looks intentional.

Hands-on activity

Colour mixing lab

You need: red, yellow, blue, white and black paint (tempera, poster paint, acrylic or a watercolour set), a paper plate or plastic lid as a palette, two brushes, a jar of water, paper towels, heavy paper or the back of a cereal box, a pencil and ruler, newspaper to cover the table.

  1. Colour wheel: draw a 12-section wheel (a circle divided like a clock face). Paint the three primaries at 12, 4 and 8 o'clock. Mix the secondaries and tertiaries yourself. Do not use ready-made orange, green or violet.
  2. Value and intensity strip: choose one hue. Paint a row of 5 tints, a row of 5 shades and a row of 5 tones (using its complement, not grey).
  3. Neutral challenge: mix a brown and a grey using only complements (plus white).
  4. Scheme cards: paint four small (5 cm × 5 cm) abstract designs: monochromatic, analogous, complementary, triadic. Label each.
  5. Write a sentence for each card: what mood does it create?

Safety: use paints labelled non-toxic (look for the AP seal from the Art and Creative Materials Institute). Never put brushes in your mouth. Wipe extra paint onto paper towels before rinsing, and wash hands after. Acrylic paint is hard to remove once dry, so wear old clothes.

Just for fun

Funny but true: the colour orange is named after the fruit, not the other way around. Before the fruit arrived in England, English speakers often called the colour something like "yellow-red".

Your turn

1

Name the three properties of colour.

2

What do you get when you mix blue with white? With black? With grey?

3

Name the complement of: red, yellow-orange, blue-green.

4

Which colour scheme uses yellow-green, yellow and yellow-orange?

5

How can you dull (lower the intensity of) a bright orange without using grey?

6

A painting uses only red, yellow and blue. Which scheme is this?

7

Why might a sports team choose complementary colours for its logo?

More practice: warm-up

1

What are the three primary colours on the traditional painter's wheel?

2

Mix yellow and blue. What secondary colour do you get?

3

Is blue a warm or cool colour?

4

What is the complement of violet?

5

What is a monochromatic colour scheme?

More practice: on your own

1

Liam's painting of a forest looks too bright and fake. All his greens are straight from the tube. Suggest two changes.

2

Why do warm colours seem to come forward in a landscape painting?

3

Explain the difference between value and intensity, using pink and dusty rose as examples.

4

Choose a colour scheme for an art work about loneliness on a winter night and explain.

5

A friend wants to mix a rich brown. Which two colours could she mix?

Challenge

1

A movie poster uses mostly teal (blue-green) with orange highlights on the actors' faces. Explain why this works using colour theory.

2

Explain why mixing an orange-leaning red with a green-leaning blue often gives a dull violet, and how to get a clearer one.

3

Design a complete colour plan (scheme, dominant colour, accent colour, value range) for an art work about the end of summer at a lake in Ontario.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Which property of colour describes how bright or dull it is?

2.

Red mixed with white makes...

3.

What is the complement of blue on the traditional colour wheel?

4.

Blue, blue-green and green form which scheme?

5.

Which is the best way to lower the intensity of a bright red while keeping it red?

6.

Which statement about colour meaning is most accurate?

For parents and teachers

Colour mixing is best learned with real paint, and cheap tempera or a basic watercolour set is enough. Common difficulties: muddy mixtures (too many colours mixed together, or too much black), confusing value with intensity, and using paint straight from the tube. Ask your teen to name the hue, value and intensity of colours around the house ("That cushion is a low-intensity red-orange"). Use paints labelled non-toxic, cover the table, and avoid pouring large amounts of paint water down the drain: wipe brushes on paper towel first. Note that colour meanings vary between cultures; this is a good conversation to have at home.