1. The Color Wheel
Primary
Secondary
Tertiary

2. Primary Colors
Yellow
Red
Blue

3. Secondary Colors
Orange
Violet
Green

4. Tertiary Colors Yellow-Orange Red-Orange Red-Purple Blue-Purple
Blue-Green
Yellow-Green

5. Chroma - Saturation/Intensity - Value

6. Shade Tint

7. Yellow-Orange / Blue-Violet
Complementary Colors
The colors that are positioned opposite one another are complementary colors.
Red-Orange /
Blue-Green
Violet/Yellow
Red/Green
Yellow-Green /
Red-Violet
Yellow-Orange / Blue-Violet
Orange / Blue

8. When mixed, complementary colors annihilate each other when mixed to create dark neutrals:

9. LIGHT & SHADOW ZONES SHADOW ZONE LIGHT ZONE DARK = Intensity (shade)
DULL = Saturation
(Add Compliment)
COOL =Temperature
Cool Colors: Blue, Violet, and Green
LIGHT ZONE
LIGHT = Intensity (tint)
BRIGHT = Saturation
(Pure chroma)
WARM = Temperature
Warm Colors: Red, Yellow, and Orange

10. Warm Colors
Active colors will appear to advance when placed against passive hues.
Most often warm, saturated, light value hues are "active" and visually advance.
Deux fillettes, fond jaune et rouge (Two Girls in a Yellow and Red Interior), Henri Matisse

11. Fighting Forms, Franz Marc

12. Cool Colors
Cool, low saturated, dark value hues are "passive" and visually recede.
Passive colors appear to recede when positioned against active hues.
Old Guitarist, Pablo Picasso

13. Starry Night, Vincent Van Gogh

14. Color Context
Red appears more brilliant against a black background and somewhat duller against the white background. In contrast with orange, the red appears lifeless; in contrast with blue-green, it exhibits brilliance. Notice that the red square appears larger on black than on other background colors.

15. Red-Purple Rectangle Blue-Purple Rectangle

16. Different Readings of the Same Color
You will saw that the small purple rectangle on the left appeared to have a red-purple tinge when compared to the small purple rectangle on the right.
They are both the same color as seen in the illustration below. This demonstrates how three colors can be perceived as four colors.