The color wheel is an easy-to-use reference tool to understand the relationships between colors and color theory.
History
The color wheel was developed by Isaac Newton around 1704. He used a prism to split the colors in sunlight and then linked the color spectrum together in a circle to create the first color wheel.
Color Theory
Color Theory is a set of principles artists and designers used to create visually harmonious color combination.
Terminology
There are three basic groups of colors that make up the color spectrum: primary, secondary and tertiary colors. Analogous colors are colors that are next to each other on the color wheel; complementary colors are colors that are across from each other on the color wheel.
Primary Colors
Primary colors are red, yellow and blue. These are the most basic pigments, and they can be mixed together to form any color.
Secondary Colors
Secondary colors are green, orange and purple. Mixing the adjacent primary colors together forms these colors.
Tertiary Colors
Tertiary colors are formed by mixing a primary and secondary color together. They have two-word names like yellow-green or red-orange.
