The color wheel was created to give us a better understanding on how colors work with each other and its relationships between each other. In total there are twelve colors in the color wheel. These colors are broken up into three categories: Primary Colors, Secondary Colors, and Tertiary Colors.

Primary Colors are the originators of colors and can not be created by mixing any other colors withing the wheel. These colors are red, blue, and yellow.

Secondary Colors are colors that are created by mixing equal proportions of two primary colors together, creating the colors:  green, orange and violet.

Tertiary Colors are colors that are formed by mixing equal amounts of a primary color with a secondary color together, which then creates the colors:  red-orange, red-violet, blue-green, blue-violet, yellow-orange, and yellow-green.

Here’s how you would mix primary colors to achieve the correct secondary colors:

Red + Yellow = Orange

Yellow + Blue = Green

Blue + Red = Violet

Here’s how you would mix primary + second colors to achieve tertiary colors:

Orange + Red = Red-Orange

Green + Yellow = Yellow-Green

Violet + Red = Red-Violet

Orange + Yellow = Yellow-Orange

Green + Blue = Blue-Green

Violet + Blue = Blue-Violet

Besides primary, secondary and tertiary colors there is another color group called Complimentary Colors. Complimentary colors are pairs of primary and secondary colors that face opposite each other on the color wheel. When complimentary colors are mixed they neutralize each other. The following are complimentary colors combination:

Blue and Orange

Red and Green

Yellow and Violet

Now that we have a better understanding of colors and their relationship to one another lets go paint the town.