For centuries, artists and designers have remained captivated by the beauty of these complementary hues, using them to create works of art that resonate with our emotions and have played a crucial role in our visual storytelling. The history of analogous colors is a tale woven with the threads of human curiosity and creativity. In the hands of a skilled artist, this is a tool that can be used to move and inspire us.Īnalogous Colors in History and Modern Times They are found throughout nature, blending from one color to the next, and by understanding and utilizing their relationship with one another, we can create works of art that resonate with the viewer on a deeper and more emotional level. As our ancestors and artistic forefathers have discovered time and time again, these colors can be used to create a sense of movement and emotion, while also evoking feelings of tranquility and harmony. Sitting next to one another on the color wheel, they complement one another naturally in a way that creates a visually stunning display. 4.2 How Can I Use Analogous Colors in Design?Īnalogous colors can be seen as a symphony of hues, blending together seamlessly in a way that takes over the senses.

3.1 Contrasting Against Analogous Colors.

2 Analogous Colors in History and Modern Times.

For example, the Blue at the lower center looks all the more beautiful next to the subdued Blue/Green in the lake shadows. This is where mixing colors and adding Gray Tones come into the picture. Third, the colors have been given even more variety by making some intense and some subdued. Of course, this is a photo, but if you were to paint this scene, you'd adjust the values with White, Gray or a little Black mixed into the color. Second, as explained above, variety has been achieved by contrasting the light and dark values. Therefore the colors stay cool and serene. In this case though, there is no Red/Purple to warm things up. This is nearly the same Color Scheme as my mixture sample above. Composition is a huge topic which we can delve into at another time.īut there are a few other things that make this photograph particularly special.įirst, there is a limited range of the Analogous Colors of Green, Blue/Green, Blue, andīlue/ Purple. Of course one of the elements that make this stand out is composition. It just makes you stop in your tracks to look. The photograph of the landscape above, is stunningly gorgeous. Make the most of these differences to add variety of temperature, intensity and values. Compared to the warm colors on the left side, the cool colors on the right look quite refreshing. Therefore, if you want all the Tones within one artwork to be in harmony, use the same Gray throughout.Īnother thing to notice about all three rows, especially the bottom row, is the color temperature. Remember, Neutral Gray doesn't change the underlying Hue, it just reduces the intensity.Īlternatively, if you want to experiment, you can try other pre-mixed Gray pigments. However, some may alter your colors in unexpected ways. Although there are only a few blends here, you could literally mix up an endless number of variations from super light to super dark.Īs mentioned in another post, the easiest and most Neutral Gray is a mixture of White with Black in a range of values. You could also add more Black to any of the colors in the first two rows to create intense darks. In this case I've created several Tints and Tones by mixing in various amounts of White or Gray. These samples relate directly to the ones above in the second row. Now that you've looked at how Analogous Colors automatically harmonize, let's look at how to keep them from being boring.īegin by looking closely at the bottom row of paint mixtures above. This is a perfect example of how pre-testing your pigments can save you time and effort while painting. Therefore, keep in mind you don't always need to use every tube of paint color to create a wide range of Analogous Colors. That's because a more harmonized Purple comes as a result of blending instead of using another pigment color. In this case, notice the balanced Purples in the middle of the first and second rows. However, if I selected this Color Scheme for a project, it would appear like Purple is the fourth main colors. You can see I've actually mixed only the three colors listed below. First of all, let me point out something important about my color choices for this particular swatch test.

4 analogous colors