Colour theory is a set of principles and guidelines that explain how colours interact with each other and how they can be combined to create aesthetically pleasing visual compositions. It encompasses various concepts such as colour mixing, colour harmony, and colour psychology. Here are some basics of colour theory:
- Colour Wheel: The colour wheel is a circular representation of colours, typically divided into 12 hues. It consists of primary colours (red, blue, and yellow), secondary colours (orange, green, and purple), and tertiary colours (mixtures of primary and secondary colours). The colour wheel helps understand colour relationships and combinations.
- Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary colours: Primary colours are pure colours that cannot be created by mixing other colours. Secondary colours result from mixing two primary colours, while tertiary colours are created by mixing a primary colour with a secondary colour.
- Colour Harmony: colour harmony refers to the pleasing arrangement of colours in an artwork or design. There are several colour harmonies, including complementary (colours opposite each other on the colour wheel), analogous (colours adjacent to each other on the colour wheel), triadic (three equally spaced colours on the colour wheel), and more.
- Colour Temperature: colours are often described as warm or cool. Warm colours, such as red, orange, and yellow, tend to evoke feelings of warmth, energy, and excitement. Cool colours, such as blue, green, and purple, create a sense of calmness, tranquility, and relaxation.
- Colour Value: Value refers to the lightness or darkness of a colour. Adding black to a colour creates a shade, while adding white creates a tint. Different values can be used to create contrast and depth in a composition.
- Colour Psychology: colours can have psychological and emotional effects on individuals. For example, red is often associated with passion and energy, while blue is associated with calmness and trust. Understanding colour psychology can help evoke specific emotions or create certain moods in design or branding.
- Colour Mixing: colours can be mixed using various methods, such as additive mixing (combining coloured light, as in digital displays) and subtractive mixing (combining pigments or dyes, as in painting). Mixing different colours can produce a wide range of hues, tints, and shades.
These are some fundamental concepts of colour theory, but there is much more to explore. colour theory is a versatile and complex subject that plays a crucial role in various creative fields, including art, design, fashion, marketing and, of course, painting and decorating.
It’s important that your wall colours work with your furniture, artwork, brick colours, window colour, kitchen cabinet colours etc so unless you’re starting from scratch with a new-build and are going to be buying all new curtains, pictures, furniture etc. It’s going to be important to pick the right colours that go with the things and environment that you have. Give Paul a call on 01283 296716 for a chat and when we come around to quote we’ll be suitably armed with colour charts and suggestions based on years of experience knowing what works and what doesn’t.
You’ll probably be thinking of combining multiple colours – so probably think along the lines of something like a 60:30:10 ratio where 60% of your space is the main colour, 30% a contrasting colour, and 10% eye-grabbing highlights that guide the eye around the room. This doesn’t have to be pain of course – and could be pieces of furniture, curtain or artwork. Check out the New Look Decorators Guide to colour systems for a bit more reading.
Contact New Look Decorators for a painting and decorating quote.