A color wheel is a basic guide for artists; this disc-shaped encyclopedia of pigments and hues shows an artist the different gradations of colors based on what elements are added to it. This wheel is divided into twelve equal sections, each one representing a color and its pigment value.
The three main colors are red, blue, and yellow-they cannot be made by mixing any other color with each other, and are the main components to the various colors people see in their everyday lives. They are placed in a triangular pattern in relation to each other, representing their dominance in the color wheel.
In between each of these colors are the secondary colors of violet, orange, and green, which are constructed by combining equal amounts of the primary colors. Since violet is the mixture of red and blue, it lies between these two colors on the wheel. Green finds its place between yellow and blue, while the space between red and yellow is occupied by the color orange. Much like the primary colors, these secondary ones lie in a triangular orientation to one another.
Finally, in between the secondary colors are the tertiary colors, which are formed from the combination of a primary and secondary color with one another. In this respect, the space between red and orange is the color red-orange, while in between yellow and green is yellow-green. The other tertiary colors which fill in the empty spaces are yellow-orange, blue-green, blue-violet, and finally red-violet.
The color wheel is an indispensable tool which allows artists and anyone else to see the relation that on color has with another one. The exact orientation of the colors in relation to one another is done so people can see which colors are best used with one another. For example, red, in varying lights and shades, is simply known as monochrome. If one wants to add a little flavor to a surface that is saturated with red, they can use red-orange or red-violet, since these colors are analogous with one another. This means that colors that are placed next to each other can be used in tandem, where one color is more dominant to the other. In this case, red would be used with a red-violet or red-orange accent.
Complimentary colors are ones that are found opposite to each other and thus create a contrast which can be used for further detail. Still using the previous example, red is complimentary to green, just as blue is to orange and yellow is to violet. These colors can be used together, but one should be used to dominate the other to create an aesthetically-pleasing effect. A split compliment involves taking one color, say red, and using one of the colors that's adjacent to its compliment, which would be either yellow-green or blue-green. This allows for a more subtle contrast between the two colors, giving a softer effect that doesn't make one color so much more dominant than the other.
Finally, there is the idea of triadic colors, which simply means using three colors that form an equal triangle with one another on the wheel. The best example of this would be using any of the three primary or secondary colors with its counterparts.
