Color Wheel

The color wheel is a visual model that artists use to understand relationships between colors, as well as, various color effects. The traditional 12-color wheel displays the primary and secondary colors, which together, form various color sets such as complementary, analogous, and tertiary (to name a few). Take a few minutes to study the color wheel chart below.

alt="Pocket Color Wheel, front" title="Pocket Color Wheel, front" v:shapes="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_largephoto">

Now look at this website:

http://www.colormatters.com/colortheory.html

Now that you have looked at the chart and website, you should have an overview of the color wheel and its basic concepts. It is important to note that color plays a vital role in all forms of art, ranging from simple drawings to painting to sculptures. Even charcoal drawings, which consist of only neutral colors, can express meaning by values, tints, and shades, all aspects of color. Paintings, of course, provide further color use, and are important to learn and understand.

Take a look at Vincent Van Gogh’s The Night Café (below). This oil painting, created in 1888, is one of Van Gogh’s most prominent artworks. It shows a café’s interior, pool table, along with five seated individuals. The mood is vividly expressed by the color choice. It has been said that the individuals represent a "few human beings absorbed in their individual loneliness and despair.” As mentioned, the color choice plays a huge role in this interpretation.

The Night Café by Vincent Van Gogh (1888)

Looking at the website, and the photograph provided, please answer the following questions:

1. Explain, in your own words, a definition of the color wheel.

2. List the three primary colors:

3. List the three secondary colors:

4. What is a complementary color set? Provide an example and explain how it meets the complementary color criteria.

5. Looking at The Night Café, which sets of colors are used? Primary? Secondary? A combination of both?

6. Based on your color wheel knowledge, can you explain how a major color concept is shown in Van Gogh’s masterpiece? (Here’s a hint: you already discussed it in a previous question!)

Follow-up Activity: Write down definitions of primary, secondary, complementary, analogous, and tertiary color sets in your art sketchbooks. You will be able to refer to them at your convenience!