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Color wheel
A color wheel or color circle[1] is an abstract illustrative
organization of color hues around a circle, which shows the
relationships between primary colors, secondary colors,
tertiary colors etc.

Some sources use the terms color wheel & color circle
interchangeably;[2][3] however, one term or the other may be
more prevalent in certain fields or certain versions as
mentioned above. For instance, some reserve the term color
wheel for mechanical rotating devices, such as color tops, filter
wheels or Newton disc. Others classify various color wheels as
color disc, color chart, and color scale varieties.[4]
Linear color wheel.

Contents
Colors of the color wheel
Trichromatic model
Subtractive
Additive
Opponent process model
History
The color circle and color vision Seven-color and twelve-color color
Color wheels and paint color mixing circles from 1708, attributed to
Color wheel software Claude Boutet

Color schemes
Gallery
See also
References
External links

Colors of the color wheel

Trichromatic model

Most color wheels are based on three primary colors, three secondary colors, and the six
intermediates formed by mixing a primary with a secondary, known as tertiary colors, for a total of
12 main divisions; some add more intermediates, for 24 named colors. They make use of the
trichromatic model of color.

Subtractive
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The typical artists' paint or pigment color wheel includes the

blue, red, and yellow primary colors. The corresponding
secondary colors are green, orange, and violet or purple. The
tertiary colors are green-yellow, yellow-orange, orange-red,
red-violet/purple, purple/violet-blue and blue-green.

Non-digital visual artists typically use red, yellow, and blue

primaries (RYB color model) arranged at three equally spaced
points around their color wheel.[5] Printers and others who use
modern subtractive color methods and terminology use
magenta, yellow, and cyan as subtractive primaries.
Intermediate and interior points of color wheels and circles
represent color mixtures. In a paint or subtractive color wheel,
the "center of gravity" is usually (but not always[6]) black,
representing all colors of light being absorbed.

Additive

A color wheel based on RGB (red, green, blue) additive

primaries has cyan, magenta, and yellow secondaries.
Alternatively, the same arrangement of colors around a circle Wilhelm von Bezold's 1874
can be described as based on cyan, magenta, and yellow Farbentafel
subtractive primaries, with red, green, and blue being
secondaries. Sometimes a RGV (red, green, violet) triad is used
instead. In an additive color circle, the center is white or gray,
indicating a mixture of different wavelengths of light (all
wavelengths, or two complementary colors, for example).

The HSL and HSV color spaces are simple geometric

transformations of the RGB cube into cylindrical form. The
outer top circle of the HSV cylinder – or the outer middle circle
of the HSL cylinder – can be thought of as a color wheel. There
is no authoritative way of labelling the colors in such a color
wheel, but the six colors which fall at the corners of the RGB
cube are given names in the X11 color list, and are named
keywords in HTML.[7]

Opponent process model

A 1908 color wheel with red, green,
Some color wheels are based on the four opponent process and violet "plus colors" and
colors - red, yellow, blue and green. This includes those of the magenta, yellow, and cyan blue
Natural Color System. "minus colors".

History
In his book Opticks, Isaac Newton presented a color circle to illustrate the relations between these
colors.[8] The original color circle of Isaac Newton showed only the spectral hues and was provided
to illustrate a rule for the color of mixtures of lights, that these could be approximately predicted
from the center of gravity of the numbers of "rays" of each spectral color present (represented in
his diagram by small circles).[9] The divisions of Newton's circle are of unequal size, being based
on the intervals of a Dorian musical scale.[10] Most later color circles include the purples, however,
between red and violet, and have equal-sized hue divisions.[11] Color scientists and psychologists
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often use the additive primaries, red, green and blue; and often
refer to their arrangement around a circle as a color circle as
opposed to a color wheel.[12]

Thomas Young postulated that the eye contains receptors that

respond to three different primary sensations, or spectra of
light. James Clerk Maxwell showed that all hues, but not all
colors, can be created from three primary colors such as red,
green, and blue, if they are mixed in the right proportions.
Goethe's Theory of Colours provided the first systematic study
of the physiological effects of color (1810). His observations on
the effect of opposed colors led him to a symmetric
arrangement of his color wheel anticipating Ewald Hering's A color wheel based on HSV,
opponent color theory (1872). labeled with HTML color keywords.

... for the colours diametrically opposed to each

other ... are those that reciprocally evoke each other
in the eye.

— Goethe, Theory of Colours

The color circle and color vision

A color circle based on spectral wavelengths appears with red
at one end of the spectrum and is 100% mixable violet at the
other. A wedge-shaped gap represents colors that have no
unique spectral frequency. These extra-spectral colors, the
purples, form from an additive mixture of colors from the ends
of the spectrum.

In normal human vision, wavelengths of between about 400

nm and 700 nm are represented by this incomplete circle, with
the longer wavelengths equating to the red end of the
spectrum. Complement colors are located directly opposite
each other on this wheel. These complement colors are not
identical to colors in pigment mixing (such as are used in A 1917 four-way color circle related
paint), but when lights are additively mixed in the correct to the color opponent process.
proportions appear as a neutral grey or white.[13]

The color circle is used for, among other purposes, illustrating additive color mixture. Combining
two colored lights from different parts of the spectrum may produce a third color that appears like
a light from another part of the spectrum, even though dissimilar wavelengths are involved. This
type of color matching is known as metameric matching.[14] Thus, a combination of green and red
light might produce a color close to yellow in apparent hue. The newly formed color lies between
the two original colors on the color circle, but they are usually represented as being joined by a
straight line on the circle, the location of the new color closer to the (white) center of the circle
indicating that the resulting hue is less saturated (i.e., paler) than either of the two source colors.
The combination of any two colors in this way are always less saturated than the two pure spectral
colors individually.

Objects may be viewed under a variety of different lighting conditions. The human visual system is
able to adapt to these differences by chromatic adaptation. This aspect of the visual system is
relatively easy to mislead, and optical illusions relating to color are therefore a common
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phenomenon. The color circle is a useful tool for examining these illusions.

Arranging spectral colors in a circle to predict admixture of light stems from work by Sir Isaac
Newton. Newton's calculation of the resulting color involves three steps: First, mark on the color
circle the constituent colors according to their relative weight. Second, find the barycenter of these
differently weighted colors. Third, interpret the radial distance (from the center of the circle to the
barycenter) as the saturation of the color, and the azimuthal position on the circle as the hue of the
color. Thus, Newton's color circle is a predecessor of the modern, horseshoe-shaped CIE color
diagram.

The psychophysical theory behind the color circle dates to the early color triangle of Thomas
Young, whose work was later extended by James Clerk Maxwell and Hermann von Helmholtz.

Color wheels and paint color mixing

There is no straight-line relationship between colors mixed in
pigment, which vary from medium to medium. With a
psychophysical color circle, however, the resulting hue of any
mixture of two colored light sources can be determined simply
by the relative brightness and wavelength of the two lights.[14]
A similar calculation cannot be performed with two paints. As
such, a painter's color wheel is indicative rather than
predictive, being used to compare existing colors rather than
calculate exact colors of mixtures. Because of differences
relating to the medium, different color wheels can be created
according to the type of paint or other medium used, and many
artists make their own individual color wheels. These often
contain only blocks of color rather than the gradation between
tones that is characteristic of the color circle.[15]

Ignaz Schiffermüller, Versuch eines

Color wheel software Farbensystems (Vienna, 1772),
plate I. Color wheels can be used to
A number of interactive color wheel applications are available create pleasing color schemes.
both on the Internet and as desktop applications. These
programs are used by artists and designers for picking colors
for a design.

Color schemes
In color theory, a color scheme is the choice of colors used in design for a range of media. For
example, the use of a white background with black text is an example of a common default color
scheme in web design.

Color schemes are logical combinations of colors on the color wheel. Color schemes are used to
create style and appeal. Colors that create an aesthetic feeling together commonly appear together
in color schemes. A basic color scheme uses two colors that look appealing together. More
advanced color schemes involve several colors in combination, usually based around a single color
—for example, text with such colors as red, yellow, orange and light blue arranged together on a
black background in a magazine article. Color schemes can also contain different shades of a single
color; for example, a color scheme that mixes different shades of green, ranging from very light
(almost white) to very dark.

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Complementary colors are two colors directly across from each

other; for example, red and green are complementary colors.
Tetradic color palettes use four colors, a pair of complementary
color pairs. For example, one could use yellow, purple, red, and
green. Tetrad colors can be found by putting a square or
rectangle on the color wheel.
An analogous color scheme is
made up of colors next to each other on the wheel. For
example, red, orange, and yellow are analogous colors.
Monochromic colors are different shades of the same color. For
example, light blue, indigo, and cyan blue. Complementary
colors are colors across from each other on a color wheel. For
example, blue and orange. Triadic colors are colors that are
evenly across from each other, in a triangle over the color
wheel. For example, the primary colors red, yellow, and blue
are triadic colors.[16]

For a list of ways to construct color schemes, regarding Moses Harris, in his book The
properties such as Natural System of Colours (1776),
warmness/achromiticness/complementariness, see color presented this color palette.
theory.

Gallery

Newton's asymmetric Goethe's symmetric A color circle based on

color wheel based on color wheel with additive combinations of
musical intervals. Mixing 'reciprocally evoked the light spectrum, after
"rays" in amounts given colors' (1810) Schiffman (1990)
by the circles yields
color "z" (1704)

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Human Color Wheel RGB color wheel RYB color wheel

based on the hue and
light detected on human
skins, after Harbisson
(2004–2009)

Color circle based on the

HSV color space,
showing all colors with a
value (brightness) of 255
(100%).

See also
Circle of fifths
Color theory
Visual perception
Psychophysics
Color solid
Spectral color
Octave
Color blindness
Ishihara test

References
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1. Morton, J.L. "Basic Color Theory" (http://www.colormatters.com/color-and-design/basic-color-th

eory). Color Matters.
2. Simon Jennings (2003). Artist's Color Manual: The Complete Guide to Working With Color (htt
ps://archive.org/details/artistscolormanu00simo). Chronicle Books. p. 26 (https://archive.org/de
tails/artistscolormanu00simo/page/26). ISBN 0-8118-4143-X. "color-wheel color-circle."
3. Faber Birren (1934). Color Dimensions: Creating New Principles of Color Harmony and a
Practical Equation in Color Definition (https://books.google.com/books?id=ucTfVJnO-64C&pg=
PA56). Chicago: The Crimson Press. ISBN 1-4286-5179-9.
4. Joseph Anthony Gillet and William James Rolfe (1881). Elements of Natural Philosophy: For
the Use of Schools and Academies (https://archive.org/details/elementsnatural00rolfgoog).
New York: Potter, Ainsworth. p. 186 (https://archive.org/details/elementsnatural00rolfgoog/pag
e/n208). "color-disc."
5. Kathleen Lochen Staiger (2006). The Oil Painting Course You've Always Wanted: Guided
Lessons for Beginners (https://books.google.com/books?id=B4Q05KmkEdUC&q=color-wheel+
artist+red+yellow+blue&pg=PA41). Watson–Guptill. ISBN 0-8230-3259-0.
6. Martha Gill (2000). Color Harmony Pastels: A Guidebook for Creating Great Color
Combinations (https://books.google.com/books?id=cl6ELZriVe0C&q=color-wheel+scientific+tra
ditional&pg=PA6). Rockport Publishers. ISBN 1-56496-720-4.
7. "Basic HTML data types" (http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/types.html#h-6.5). HTML 4.01
Specification. W3C. 24 December 1999.
8. Newton, Isaac (1730). Opticks: Or, A Treatise of the Reflections, Refractions, Inflections and
Colours of Light (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/33504/33504-h/33504-h.htm). William Innys
at the West-End of St. Paul's. pp. 154–158.
9. Newton, Isaac (1704). Opticks. pp. 114–117.
10. Briggs, David. "Newton's hue system" (http://www.huevaluechroma.com/071.php#Newton_s_h
ue_system).
11. Steven K. Shevell (2003). The Science of Color (https://books.google.com/books?id=-fNJZ0xm
TFIC&q=color-circle+wavelengths+newton+purple&pg=PA4). Elsevier. ISBN 0-444-51251-9.
12. Linda Leal (1994). The Essentials of Psychology (https://archive.org/details/essentialsofpsyc00
00leal). Research & Education Assoc. p. 26 (https://archive.org/details/essentialsofpsyc0000le
al/page/26). ISBN 0-87891-930-9. "color-circle psychology red green blue."
13. Krech, D., Crutchfield, R.S., Livson, N., Wilson, W.A. jr., Parducci, A. (1982) Elements of
psychology (4th ed.). New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 108–109.
14. Schiffman, H.R. (1990) Sensation and perception: An integrated approach (3rd ed.). New York:
John Wiley & Sons, pp. 252–253.
15. Rodwell, J. (1987) The complete watercolour artist. London: Paul Press, pp. 94–95.
16. How to create color palettes (http://burnettsboards.com/2013/05/how-to-create-color-palettes/)

External links
David Briggs (2007). Hue (http://www.huevaluechroma.com/071.php) in The Dimensions of
Colour (http://www.huevaluechroma.com/index.php)
Interactive Color Wheel (https://web.archive.org/web/20150806155705/http://www.colormixtur
e.com/mix) (Color Scheme Generator)
"Colour Wheels, Charts, and Tables Through History" (http://publicdomainreview.org/collection
s/colour-wheels-charts-and-tables-through-history/). The Public Domain Review. Illustrated
history, with links to mostly public domain images from digitized historic books.

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