color theory 101

Welcome to a special edition of the eco-practical crafter. Today I'm going to touch on the basics of color theory.

The above color wheel was pulled from Artist's Toolkit. They explain several design elements: color, line, shape, space, balance, and movement. Lots of pictures, check it out!

Red, yellow and blue are primary colors (or light blue, pink and pale yellow in this example), which means that they cannot be made from other colors.

Groupings of three evenly spaced colors from the color wheel (such as red, yellow and blue) create a balanced but lively composition (called a tetrad).


Compare a tetrad to three analogous colors, which are three colors next to each other on the color wheel (such as blue, purple, and red). This color combination is still harmonious, but more mellow.

Intensity can also play a part in color combination. Notice how your eye is drawn to the red in this picture. Light colors can also be focal points when used with mostly dark colors.

Red and green are exactly opposite from each other on the color wheel, and are called complimentary colors. As a side note, when you mix complimentary colors together (in paint...) you get brown.

Used in equal parts they can make a composition feel chaotic, but when one is used sparingly it creates focus. (Imagine a pink dot on the green or vice versa. Either way your eye would focus on the dot).

These fabrics all have points of interest, which they create either by use of color, intensity of color, or contrasting colors.

These fabrics are more or less "solid" despite being patterns because the colors and intensities are consistent. Except maybe the floral print in the lower left corner, it looks more solid in real life... :-p

Framing patterns with different colors can have interesting effects. I'll show you what I mean with this lovely bird and flowers print.

A nice dark border (always my fav option) fades to the background. When creating perspective, objects in the background will be darker and bluer (and smaller, but duh!), which is why a dark border will take a backseat to a lighter center piece.


A light border, on the other hand, will give an open expansive feel. It's a good technique to allude to something beyond the scope of the picture.

Using a color that's also found within the center piece will draw your eye to that color in the piece.

The flowers always popped, but now they don't pop as much as seeming more present. Your eye is registering more of the flower color, which adds to the flowers importance in the composition.

Likewise, this gray background makes the birds more easily noticed.

Special thanks goes out to my mom and aunt (both artists) and my middle school and high school art teachers. This post would not have been possible without you!

And to my avid readers, just remember that artistic principles are guidelines not rules!