Color theory: what colors make up the color wheel?

Color theory is a basic tool for designers, artists, architects, interior designers and in general, all those who use color creatively.

It is useful either to generate different environments or atmospheres in a room, to design the next fashion collection, to awaken different emotions in a movie or even to choose what to wear every day.

But color is not used exclusively by those who work in creative industries as some believe. Color is part of us and everything that surrounds us and therefore, we all use it on a daily basis, whether in a more conscious or unconscious way. Below we will tell you what color theory consists of, so that you can start using this beautiful tool in the creation of your reality and your world.

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What is the color?

Color and the way we perceive it is something totally subjective and unique to each person. Still, color theory allows us to understand colors in a similar way, as well as the possibility of creating infinite shades (the eye is capable of perceiving around 10 million colors). That is why it is necessary to first understand what color is.

Color is the result of the interaction between light and what surrounds us, for example, an object. Without light, nothing we see would have color and everything would be dark or black, like when you turn off the light before going to sleep. Thanks to light and its properties we can perceive colors.

That's how it is! Light is made up of electromagnetic waves that travel at high speed, more precisely at 30,000 km per second. Each wave has a different length from the other producing different types of light: either ultraviolet, infrared or the visible spectrum.

The latter is the one that is visible to our eye and from which the theory of color arises. When you are properties of light interact with an object, it absorbs some of the light rays and returns, that is, reflects, the others towards the environment. The latter are what our brain interprets as colors.

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What is color theory?

The theory of color is a set of rules that acts on the visible spectrum of light and that explains how you should mix the colors to get the one you want, showing you how colors interact with each other. For example, you can get white light by mixing red, green, and blue, while you can get black by mixing cyan, magenta, and yellow pigments.

To do this, this theory divides colors into three groups: primary, secondary and tertiary. These are represented graphically in a chromatic circle in which following an order from inside to outside, are the primary colors, surrounded by the secondary colors and these in turn, surrounded by the tertiary.

Primary colors

This first group is made up of those colors that we find in nature and that it is not possible to obtain through the mixture of other colors. On the contrary, they are the basis and origin of the other millions of shades that we are capable of perceiving.

The primary colors are: red, blue and yellow; or magenta, cyan, and yellow, depending on the palette setting used.

Secondary colours

According to color theory, the secondary ones are those colors that we get by mixing two of the primary colors, resulting in purple, green and orange.

We obtain these tones by mixing the following colors:

• Red + blue = purple
• Blue + yellow = green
• Yellow + red = orange

Tertiary colors

Tertiary colors are all those that we obtain by mixing a primary color with a secondary one, resulting in different shades, such as for example purplish blue, greenish blue, orange yellow or greenish yellow, always depending on the secondary color that we choose.

Neutral colors

Although these colors are not part of the chromatic circle, it is good that you identify what they are, since they are also widely used. These are white, gray, and black.

The reason why are not included in the color wheel it is because these are not really considered colors. That's how it is! As I was saying, colors are the result of the interaction between light and an object or surface. In this sense, we see white when the surface reflects all the light and conversely, we see black when the surface completely absorbs the light.

Now that you know the theory of color and the chromatic circle, you can create color palettes for your home, in your wardrobe or you can simply use it to understand where the colors you are perceiving in your environment come from. Also remember that you can get many other colors by playing with the properties of color, such as hue or hue, saturation or intensity, and luminosity or brightness.

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One last curious fact: did you know that it was the writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe who wrote the theory of color and was who defined the color wheel inspired by the color spectrum previously proposed by physicist Isaac Newton? Now you know something more about the origin of colors!