Color Theory Vocabulary
1. Color Wheel - The Color Wheel is the basis of color harmony. The wheel encompasses
various aspects of color theory, which assists artists to make strategic color decisions.
Color Groups
2. Primary Colors - Red, yellow and blue are the three primary colors. These colors are
used in combination to create all other colors.
3. Secondary Colors - The secondary colors are green, orange and purple. The primary
and secondary colors make up the color wheel.
4. Tertiary Colors - The tertiary colors are the colors that lie between the primary and
secondary colors. They are made by mixing a primary color and a secondary color.
These include yellow-green, blue-green, red-violet and others.
5. Analogous Colors - Analogous colors are a series of three colors/shades that appear
side-by-side on the color wheel, such as red, red-orange and orange, for example. The
colors in this color group always have one color in common.
6. Complementary or Contrasting Colors - The color wheel is used to determine color
harmony. Colors that are directly across from each other on the color wheel are
complementary or contrasting colors--for example, blue and yellow, red and green.
7. Warm Colors - Warm colors occupy roughly the right side of the color wheel, from red to
yellow-green. They appear to be representing “hot temperatures”.
8. Cool Colors - cool colors are those on the left side, from purple to green. These colors
appear to be representing “cool temperatures”.
9. Neutral Colors - Colors like white, black, gray and brown are considered neutral colors
10. Monochromatic Colors – a color scheme made up of shades, values, and tones of one
color.
