If I’m painting a banana, for the shadow parts, I would add purple to yellow to create a yellow grey. Meaning to tone down, or create a grey shadow a color, you add the color that is diagonal to it on the wheel.įor example, if I’m painting a red rose, for the shadow of the rose I would add green to the red to make a dark grey red. Colors are used for objects further away from the light source or in shadow.Įssentially, colors diagonal from each other on the color wheel, strips the color out of each other. Colors on the other half (blue, purple, green) are your cool colors. The colors on the first half (red, yellow, orange) are typically your warm colors and are used for objects that are closer to the light source. In my Making Brown Paint Blog, I demonstrate how to use primary and complementary colors to make different brown colors. Pairs of Complementary colors, which are opposite of each other on the wheel How to mix the Secondary colors (orange, green, purple)

They key takeaway from your initial learning of the color wheel is to remember: