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Coloring School

When I look at a fresh coloring page my natural instinct when choosing my first color of pen or pencil is to find something in the page that relates to an object in real life and then pick an appropriate color based on that.

In this post I am going to shake up my color picking strategy by teaching myself a little color theory

We’ve all done it, you see a pattern that looks like candy canes and you plump for the brightest red in your set. Or there is a wonderful design of a turtle that immediately makes you reach for the green. If I stroll through some of my coloring pages I can see that this behaviour influences most of my coloring – in the majority of my designs I can see that I am choosing color palettes based on what I think the objects or patterns are colored like in real life.

Turtle, colored from life
Turtle, colored from life

Sometimes though, it is fun to forget the design, forget what a real-life owl may be colored like or ignore the petal yellows and rose reds that are evoked by the flower pattern, and choose some colors purely based on how well they go together, not just on how they relate to the picture on the page.

In this post I am going to shake up my color picking strategy by teaching myself a little color theory, understanding which colors go with one another and then apply some of this understanding to a simple pattern cut from the second weekly book you receive when signing up for The Coloring Book Club.

Simple Flower Pattern
Simple Flower Pattern

Basic Color Wheel

To understand color we need to rewind the clock a little and drag up those memories from our early school days. I am sure most people can recall being sat in a little apron at a table with a gaggle of other six year olds, pots of poster paints in front of you whilst you are taught about primary colors. This section is a little refresher, only this time without little Billie sitting opposite picking his nose and a nervous teacher hoping that paint will not spill everywhere!

We started with the three primary colors and suddenly we have created a family of the 12 brightest hues of color.

Primary Colors

Color Wheel - Primary
Color Wheel – Primary

Primary colors are the three basic colors that cannot be made from any other color combination. Red, Blue and Yellow. These are pure, bright colors that act as the foundation for making the other colors that we think of when we sing a rainbow!

Secondary Colors

Red mixed with Blue gives us Purple.

Blue mixed with Yellow gives us Green.

Yellow mixed with Red gives us Orange.

Boom! By mixing our three primary colors we suddenly have another set of colors to play with. The rose red of summer mixed with a dash of the golden yellow corn has produced the beautiful Orange sun of Fall!

Color Wheel - Secondary
Color Wheel – Secondary

In common color theory this set of colors we have just created are known as Secondary colors.

Primary – Red, Blue, Yellow.
Secondary – Purple, Green, Orange.

Tertiary Colors

Now that we have six colors in our color wheel we can produce the final set of colors that make up the traditional color wheel. These are known as Tertiary colors and are produced by mixing each of the Secondary colors with each neighbor Primary color.

Red mixed with Purple.
Blue mixes with Purple.
Blue mixes with Green.
Yellow mixes with Green.
Yellow mixes with Orange.
Red mixes with Orange.

Color Wheel - Tertiary
Color Wheel – Tertiary

Viola! We started with the three primary colors and suddenly we have created a family of the 12 brightest hues of color. This is the common color wheel that most art students or designers are taught in their studies and from here we can understand some basic color harmony.

Basic Color Harmony

The wheel we have created gives us twelve colors to play with and, according to common color theory, where a color sits on the wheel influences how well that color will harmonise with another.

Color Wheel From Pens
Color Wheel From Pens

Analogous Color Schemes

Colors that sit next to one another on a wheel are known as Analogous colors. Take yourself a color and choose the next two colors away from it on the wheel. Since these colors sit alongside each other on the wheel they naturally harmonise – creating natural color blends that are pleasing to the eye. Analogous color schemes are often found in nature, this beautiful flower has a stunning gradient of oranges and reds that sit in the warm part of the color wheel.

Analogous Colors From Nature
Analogous Colors From Nature
Analogous Colours Sit Next to Each Other
Analogous Colours Sit Next to Each Other

Complimentary Color Schemes

The next color group to consider are Complimentary colors. These colors sit opposite one another on the color wheel. Choosing these colors together create a design that has a high contrast and will really create a picture that pops from the page. Because of the vibrant nature of these color schemes they must be used carefully – over use of a complementary color scheme can create a psychedelic and overly vibrant page. Think of them as the sugar rush of color schemes!

Complimentary Colors are Opposite Each Other.
Complimentary Colors are Opposite Each Other.

Triadic Color Schemes

Finally, the last harmony group I will cover is the Triadic color scheme. Choose three colors equally spaced around the outside of the wheel, this approach offers a balance between the contrast of a complementary color scheme and the harmony of an analogous color scheme. Often it is suggested to allow one of the colors chosen to be used more liberally in your coloring and treat the other colors as accents, this can produce a vibrant design with a nice balance.

Triadic Colors are Three Colors Equally Spaced on the Wheel.
Triadic Colors are Three Colors Equally Spaced on the Wheel.

You can see from using these three color selection methods on the same design piece that you can really create some different and interesting results!

Analogous Coloring..
Analogous Coloring.
Complimentary Coloring..
Complimentary Coloring.
Triadic Coloring.
Triadic Coloring.

As well as the schemes described here there are other harmonies such as:

Monochromatic color schemes which take a single color from the color wheel and then apply black, white and gray to the color to create a palette of tints, shades and tones of the base color.

Adobe Color is a neat online tool that allows you to play with the color wheel and choose a palette from a base selection. Head over there and see if you can match up some color palettes with your favorite pen or pencil set.

How do you normally select the colors for your design? Do you ever consider the rules of the color wheel or are you a color rebel and throw out the textbook when filling those blank spaces?

The Coloring Wheel Video

Watch our coloring wheel video tutorial:

Over to you!

Grab yourself three or four colors and play with the color harmonies described above. You could create a vibrant eye popping mandala using a complementary color scheme, or a calming design based from an analogous color group. Take a look at the blog on the emotions behind colors and look at the color wheel – as well as choosing a color harmony you can determine whether your design will be inspired by cool or warm colors based on where on the wheel you select the colors from.

How do you normally select the colors for your design? Do you ever consider the rules of the color wheel or are you a color rebel and throw out the textbook when filling those blank spaces? Let us know below.

Do you want to try and experience the benefits of coloring for adults? Download this free coloring book:

Comments

  1. Twyla Yandell says

    November 23, 2015 at 4:41 AM

    I thought I’d registered but whenever I try to put in my email it says not registered. But when I try to do that, it says, already registered. Help. 🙂

    Reply
  2. Carla Montfort says

    April 29, 2016 at 4:50 PM

    I will have to sit and study this!!!! Thanks for sharing it!!!

    Reply
  3. Nicole Link says

    May 7, 2016 at 1:16 AM

    I do, when I decided to start colouring seriously along with my pastels and water colors and pens I bought a colour wheel, and a blending pencil to boot ooh and a malleable eraser! VERY happy with my results, I’m always skeptical looking at the colour said but it always works! I like the idea though of copying a section and trying out the different ways first, to see which appeals the most before starting!!

    Reply
  4. Bonnie Marie says

    July 7, 2016 at 10:24 PM

    I definitely started out as a rebel – I love color – the brighter the better.
    Lately I have learned to love the less vibrant shades but don’t really know how to choose what will complement what so
    I have really appreciated this session on the color wheel – now I will have to make one or find one to print out so I can keep it close when I’m choosing my colors rather than letting them choose me by however they are lined up when I grab a handful . . . Thanks!

    Reply
  5. Brenda Snider says

    July 8, 2016 at 7:50 PM

    Thanks for doing this for all the newbies like me. I remember as a kid the color wheel but since I’m almost 60 forgot about the techniques of using it. Appreciate all the info know it will come in very handy.

    Reply
  6. Allan Visser says

    July 23, 2016 at 12:12 AM

    Good stuff. Learnt this long ago and learning to use it all over again. Thanks.

    Reply
  7. Annie Meszaros says

    November 16, 2016 at 10:17 PM

    I’m just realizing that with these detailed coloring pages, you have to have an idea of where your going instead of picking random colors (which never works for me!). The question I have is how to apply the principles to multiple sections of the drawing. For example, if I choose the primary colors red, blue and yellow; I’m not going to color my entire picture with those three colors. So, can I take it a step further and decide to use analogous colors of red in an adjacent object I want to color? Or even color the adjacent item with any other color that works with it on the color wheel whether it’s analogous, triadic or adjacent? Hope my question isn’t too confusing.

    Reply
    • Steve says

      November 17, 2016 at 10:36 AM

      Great question Annie! You can certainly use analogous colors to expand your color set for a page. You can also choose some neutral colors such as beige, grey or black as these colors tend to fit with any color scheme. Ultimately, remember the color wheel is just a guide – trust your intuition on color choice and experiment, take a look at other forms of work for inspiration on color palettes like posters, illustration and even brochures from paint manufacturers, they often show examples of colors applied around the home that can spark an idea for your next page.

      Reply

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