The color wheel shows the relationships between colors.
The color wheel shows colors in a circular array and demonstrates their relationships to each other. Colors that are complements, which will produce a neutral gray or brown if mixed together, are directly opposite each other. The primary colors of red, yellow and blue are all equidistant from each other. The secondary colors of purple, green and orange, mixed from the complementary colors, lie between the primary colors.
Create a Color Wheel
Make a color wheel out of the primary colors of red, yellow and blue. Mix your colors on a palette before applying them to a circular piece of cardboard divided into 12 wedges, using acrylic paints and water. Mix red and yellow to get the secondary color orange. Likewise, mix blue and red to make purple, and yellow and blue to make green. Put the primary colors at 12 o'clock, 4 o'clock and 8 o'clock on the wheel, and the secondary colors in the order given at 2 o'clock, 6 o'clock and 10 o'clock. Once you have the primary and secondary colors applied, fill in the rest of the wheel with tertiary colors mixed from the colors on either side of the remaining spaces (red-orange, orange-yellow, yellow-green, etc.). You won't get absolutely precise colors in all cases, because paints do not contain ideal pigments, but get as close as you can.
Complementary Pairs
Mix complements together to create neutral colors, which are very useful in art. Take complementary pairs of colors such as red and green, yellow and purple and blue and orange, and mix them so that the color appears to be exactly in between the two. Each complementary color absorbs light that would normally be reflected by the other, which is why they have such a strong color canceling effect. Notice the difference in each of the neutrals created, how some are more gray and others a richer brown color. Interesting neutral colors can play a big part in a painting, as they harmonize easily with more vibrant colors.
Analogous Colors
Analogous colors lie beside each other on the color wheel. Mix a strip of color that incorporates five colors in a row, taken from primary, secondary and tertiary colors of the color wheel (for example, blue, blue-purple, purple, red-purple and red). Mix the colors and apply them so that the transitions between the colors are seamless. Using analogous colors in this way in a painting or other application creates an immediate, pleasing color harmony.
