Color Theory: The Color Wheel and Color Harmony

The Color Wheel is used by artist and interior decorator to aid them in choosing colors that are complementary to each other. Commercial Color Wheels are available at many art supply stores, they may be used for scrapbooking or you can make your own.

The Color Wheel is a principle that is hard to explain with out demonstration.   Here are some examples of pages created with the Color Wheel and Color Harmony.  This is the first article in a series on Color Theory however, many fine resources are available.

This shows the color wheel with the split complementary colors template in place.  Since I wanted to create a Fall Page, I placed the base of the triangle on yellow and orange which resulted in the tip of the triangle pointing at blue-violet. Complementary colors intensify each other.

This very bold color combination is the page that resulted from the use of the Color Wheel at the left. (The scan makes it look as if there are two different colors of background paper, in reality it is one color.) I used the three colors from the color wheel to make this page- Blue-violet was the background, Yellow and orange were used for die cuts. I added a neutral background paper behind the  blue-violet mat. (Die cuts copyright Ellison and "Fall Fun!" was cut with a with a Pebbles Tracer template.)

Monochromatic colors- various tints and/ or shades of one color- work well together.

Complimentary Colors- one primary and one secondary color opposite each other on the color wheel like red and green- work well together.

There are many different theories on color harmony and color usage. If you find this subject interesting you may wish to check out your local library or find a basic art class near you.

These papers are from the Hallmark Fall Favorites Scrapbooking Kit. The kit also includes printed paper, printed die cuts and stickers that coordinate. I choose to show these papers because they are a wonderful example of how colors harmonize and work well together.