create harmony with color schemes in art

Two complements provide a high-energy contrast and harmony at the same time.

In order to not overwhelm the viewer, an artist would use more of one complement and less of the second one.

The second complement would be used for highlights or for the focal area.

Mixing complements together makes the darks and other neutral colors. Adding white makes pleasing tints.

This painting used yellow-green with its complement red-violet.

They were mixed to create the darker green leaves and the various muted colors for the background.

Mixing complements together is how we create dark colors such as black, brown and greys.

The mixed neutral color was softened with white for the colors in the roses.

Artists often use the base color in largest area of the painting.

The other two colors on each side of the direct complement are used for highlights, accents and mixing.

The example painting of the bluebird bathing used blue as the dominant color. The yellow and red-orange were used for smaller areas of the painting.

This fun painting came from the Bluebirds bathing in our backyard.

It was painted with Burnt Sienna, New Gamboge and Ultramarine Blue.

Blue and orange made the darks on the feathers, his beak and eye.

Yellow was used for the highlights on his chest with a little in the water.

A double complementary scheme adds more variety to the painting.

It provides a wider range of color mixing possibilities, while still maintaining harmony.

Compare this scheme to the complementary scheme above.

The addition of yellow and violet makes bold a statement and adds some lovely nuances to the painting.

Here I used the same two complements as the rose painting.

But for more variety, I added a color next to each complement giving me the double complementary color scheme.

Adding yellow gave me some brighter colors for the highlights.

The addition of purple, violet gave more depth to the darks.

The harmony of analogous colors moves the eye smoothly throughout the painting.

The set of colors may be warm or cool or a combination. They may be used to create a mood or atmosphere.

They may create a rich unified palette and at the same time simplify our color decisions.

This sea shell painting was done from actual shells. Their natural colors are in perfect harmony.

Burnt Sienna was used for the orange with Permanent Rose for the red.

Permanent Rose is the closest red to primary red.

This scheme is known for its boldness and at the same time being harmonious.

The most common set of triads are the primary colors, red, yellow and blue.

Normally one color would be dominant with the other two colors playing a supporting role.

This painting used the primary colors red, blue and yellow.

We can of course turn the color scheme around to any other three colors on the color wheel.

The greens and dark colors were easy to mix from the primary colors.

A semi-triad scheme includes three equidistant colors on half of the color wheel.

The two colors directly across from each other are always complements.

Complementary colors are excellent for mixing the dark and neutral colors.

Permanent Rose and blue-violet, Ultramarine were excellent colors for painting the azaleas and green for the leaves.

If we use single pigment colors, they are good for mixing more clean, clear colors.

What are the best colors for your palette?

Complementary colors are any two colors directly across from each other.

To get a complement + one half right color scheme, move two spaces to the right of either complementary color.

The third color adds more interest to the painting. And it provides greater variation in the mixed colors.

This color scheme is very similar to the scheme in the wren painting below.

Here I used the complements blue for the vase and orange for the flowers.

The one half right color was yellow that was used to mix the green leaves. A bit of orange added to the mixture to subdue the greens.

My favorite painting color schemes are the Complement + 1/2 left and Complement + 1/2 right.

These two color schemes allow the artists to experiment and push the boundaries of traditional color use.

The other scheme I often use is the Split Complement scheme.

Orange and blue were mixed to create the browns in the wren.

The yellow and blue made a variation of greens for the leaves and background.

White lightened some of the greens and orange subdued them.

It's easy to mix more colors.