Ask Carol Color Questions:
Today’s question is: What are analogous colors?
Analogous colors are colors that are immediately next to or adjacent to one another on the color wheel. When an artist paints using analogous colors – and the same applies to interior design and textiles – a sense of harmony is conveyed. Beauty is also easiest to achieve working with analogous colors because there is no discord; all of the immediate colors share a hue.
When you look at the above 12-Hue Color Wheel, choose any 3 colors that are adjacent to each other and recall an image using those colors. Go ahead and branch out using 5 colors that are immediately next to one another and conjure up an image. What do you see in your mind’s eye?
How do I apply the use of analogous colors? For example, if I were painting a red ball, I would use orange and orange-red for the highlighted area of the ball and red-purples for the shadow side instead of mixing white with red for the light side or mixing black or blue for the shadow side. This strategy works particularly well when painting flowers or glass because the resulting colors are clean and bright.
“In Homage to Uncle Howard,” shows you how purples were used in the shadows and, yellows and oranges were mixed for the areas in the sun light. Black was never used and very little white. I wanted this painting to glow because of my warm feelings for my great uncle.
"In Homage to Uncle Howard" 16 x 20 oil by Carol McIntyre, click to enlarge
During Celebrate Color: Painting With Color Confidence, my intensive online color course, we go in-depth on how to implement analogous colors in your paintings.
What color question do you have? Please submit your color question here. Thank you!
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