Okay, so the theory is clear: yellow goes with purple, and orange with blue. In other words, it’s a combination of three or four colors that lie next to each other on the color wheel. For instance, yellow, orange, and yellow-orange. The point of the analogous scheme is to combine one primary color, one secondary color, and a tertiary color between them. That alone, however, does not mean that the scheme itself is bad. When discussing Itten’s theories and his circle, many people also refer to the analogous color scheme, although the master himself didn’t really use it. Of course, there are many more color chords that look good. To combine colors using Itten’s color wheel, you don’t necessarily have to use geometric shapes. The great thing about these geometric schemes is that you can use them in larger color wheels with more hues, too – as long as they’re formed by the same principles as Itten’s circle. Use squares and rectangles instead of triangles to do this. Using Itten’s color wheel, you can also combine four colors. The geometrical figure for this scheme is an isosceles triangle, which can also be rotated inside the wheel to uncover more combinations. The opposite also works – leave violet as it is and replace orange with the two tertiary colors that abut it on the circle. Pick two colors on the circle that are diametrically opposed to one another – for example, blue and orange, and replace one of those colors with its two neighbors – instead of blue, use blue-green and blue-violet. If you turn the triangle inside the circle, you’ll get two more triads from tertiary colors.Īnother way to create a harmonic triad is by adjusting the complementary scheme. Using an equilateral triangle, we get combinations of both primary and secondary colors. If you inscribe an equilateral triangle on the color wheel, the corners will point to the hues that look best together. TriadsĪccording to Itten, there are two main ways to combine three colors.įirst, you can pick colors that are equidistant from each other on the circle. Well, it’s all based on complementary color schemes.
#How many colors are on the color wheel movie#
You’ve probably noticed that many movie posters use a blue/orange color scheme or heard that green goes best with red. In the color wheel, two diametrically opposed colors are complementary. In his book The Elements of Color, Itten suggests using this circle to build harmonic color chords, combinations of colors that will look best together. The twelve-part color circle consists of three primary colors, three secondary colors, and six tertiary colors (which are the result of mixing a primary color and a secondary color). Each of these colors is composed of two primary colors in equal proportion. Next come the secondary colors – orange, green, violet. You probably know this already, but just to remind you, these colors are called primary because they can’t be created by mixing other colors.
In the center are the three primary colors – yellow, blue, red. It’s a graphical scheme that consists of geometric shapes of different colors. The Itten invention that’s most used today is his color wheel (also known as the twelve-part color circle). Basically, everyone whose job is somehow connected with selecting and combining colors on a single surface.
Many artists still rely on the principles described by Johannes Itten, including filmmakers, photographers, web designers, illustrators, and stylists. The great thing about his study was that it synthesized earlier works on color theory, analyses of famous works of art by artists through the ages, and even the chemical composition of pigments, but was (and is) easy for anyone to understand and use.
In the 1920’s he taught at Bauhaus, a famous German art school, where he developed a course to teach students the basics of color theory. While his expressionist works certainly deserve close attention, Itten is primarily known for his innovative thoughts on color theory. Johannes Itten was a Swiss-born painter and art theorist. One of the most basic and easiest-to-use tools to help you combine colors effectively is Itten’s color wheel. What’s next? Understanding color theory and the relationships between hues will really take your photos and videos to the next level.Ĭolor is a truly powerful tool that helps you tell your story, set the right mood, emphasize certain elements in your work, and in general, make everything look better and more complete.
#How many colors are on the color wheel how to#
So you’ve learned the basic rules of composition and figured out how to work with lighting.