Relationships

Harmony and Contrast

Choosing colors that settle together, or that pull apart

Some color choices tie a picture together; others make parts of it jump out. These pages set out the classic color families a painter can pick from the wheel. They then look at contrast, using one well-known list of its kinds.

• One hue, or a run of neighboring hues
• Opposites, triads and four-hue schemes
• A checklist of seven contrasts
• Dull against intense, and small patches against large fields

Color scheme

A planned set of hues, chosen by where they sit on the color wheel.

Works in this part

• Nocturne: Blue and Silver—Battersea Reach
• Water Lilies (Agapanthus)
• The Night Café
• The Milkmaid
• Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zuñiga
• River with a Distant Tower

Image: Made for this site · Original work