If you have ever seen a scrapbook colors wheel, you will know about the different types of color schemes. You can find good color charts at paint shops.
Primary colors are yellow, blue and red, the only colors that can’t be mixed with other paints to make. But these three colors mixed together in different combinations, can make all the colors of the rainbow.
Secondary colors are orange, yellow and purple. They are made by mixing two primary colors together: yellow & red make orange, yellow & blue make green, blue and red make purple.
Tertiary colors are combinations of primary and secondary colors. They are: red orange, red violet, yellow orange, yellow green, blue violet, blue green.
Monochromatic is the one color in different shades. You get this by mixing black paint to make it darker, called a shade, or adding white making a tint.
Complementary are colors directly opposite each other on the color wheel, eg: purple & yellow, red & green, orange & blue. They are also known as contrasting colors. It’s best to put a warm color with a cool one.
Triadic is three colors equally spaced around the color wheel. You can use a dark shade of a color with two lighter tones of the other colors.
Tetradic is double complimentary scheme. It offers more choices than other schemes, but can be hard to balance the colors. Its best to chose one color to be dominate, same as Triadic, but try to avoid using pure colors and primary colors.
Neutrals are colors such as white, beige, grey, ivory, taupe, have an undertone of color. Just test it first when its dry in sunlight to be sure it’s the color you really want.
Warm colors are red, yellow orange, because they are the colors of fire and sunshine.
Cool colors are blue, green and violet. When you see a lake, ice covered pond or snow with a blue reflection, you are seeing cool colors.
Black and white aren’t used to make colors and white can’t be made from others. Black could be made by using a few dark colors, but it wouldn’t be pure black. Black makes colors dirty, it doesn’t really darken them. White can’t be used to lighten a color, it produces a tint of that color, such as if you add white to red, it changes it to pink. Except with watercolor paints, which are transparent anyway, you can just add more water to lighten it.
If you are interested on other articles about scrapbook colors you will find additaional ones on this website.
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