A Guide to Color Wheels for Artists
RYB vs. CMY color wheels...what's the difference and which one should I use in my art?
For artists, color theory is so important to understand. Color plays a pivotal role in how your work is perceived, even subconsciously, and gives you so much power to convey a message or achieve a certain look.
However, it doesn’t need to be daunting! You can easily learn and employ color theory no matter where you are in your art-making journey. In this blog post, I'll break down the basics of color theory, go over the two color wheels for artists, and suggest which wheel may work best for you.
Breaking Down the Color Wheel
Here is an RYB color wheel. In it, the primary colors are red, yellow, and blue. Theoretically, primary colors can’t be mixed from other colors. We can mix secondary and tertiary colors from these three primaries, making up the 12 sections, arranged in a wheel to show their relationship to each other.
Secondary colors are formed when two primary colors are combined. In this case, red+yellow = orange, yellow+blue=green, and blue+red=purple.
Tertiary colors are formed when one primary color is mixed with one secondary color. For example, yellow and orange make a mustard color, and blue and green make teal. These intermediate colors form the remaining six spaces on the color wheel, as labeled in the picture below.
The Two Main Color Wheels For Artists
Artists use two main color wheels: the RYB color wheel and the CMY color wheel.
We’ve established the RYB color wheel (also called the artist’s primaries or the traditional color wheel). This is what many of us learned in school, including me, and it has served me well throughout the years.
However, there is a newer CMY color wheel that states that cyan, magenta, and yellow are the truer primaries.🤯
So, why are there two color wheels? As we learned, mixing two primary colors results in a secondary color. If you’ve ever experimented with these traditional primaries, you might’ve noticed that the purples are rather dull. Vivid purples are just difficult to achieve with the traditional wheel. The CMY color wheel is a supposed solution to that problem—you’ll see that the hues are generally more vivid.
RYB vs. CMY: Which One is Better?
You may be wondering: how do I decide which one to use? This will depend on many things, such as your medium, the subjects you paint, and simply what you prefer.
Let’s think first about the wheel as a tool for mixing colors. If you want the widest range of colors, starting with only three paint tubes, then the CMY color wheel is your friend! Using this wheel, magenta and yellow form a beautiful red, and cyan and magenta form a rich, deep blue. See how bright the colors in my CMY wheel here are?
Honestly, I struggled to accept cyan, magenta, and yellow as the truer primaries for a while. However, I find it easier to wrap my head around it by thinking of magenta as just a cool version of red and cyan as a version of blue.
RYB vs. CMY: Different Mediums & Subject Matter
Your medium is an important reason to go with one color wheel over another, especially regarding transparency. For example, with watercolor, the CMY color wheel is great because of the wide range of vivid colors available on the market by quality brands. With oil paint, it’s harder to find CMY colors with good opacity. Currently, most oil colors closest to cyan and magenta are transparent.
It also depends on the subject matter you like to paint. If you make vivid illustrations or bright watercolor paintings, try out CMY colors. Investing in these tubes of paint will give you the widest gamut of colors for your buck!
On the other hand, a portrait oil painter going for a more traditional look may opt for the RYB approach because it is easier to make flesh tones (Since it would generally be a bit more time-intensive to mix down to neutrals if you were to start with cyan, magenta, and yellow instead).
Mixing Neutrals Using the Color Wheel
Speaking of neutrals- the color wheel is also helpful when mixing neutrals. If you want to dial down a color, look across the wheel to its complement.
Complementary colors are directly opposite each other on the wheel.
Mixing the two complements will result in a more neutral hue.
Choosing What Paints to Invest In
Getting one or both sets of primaries will allow you to mix tons of colors to start o. However, if you’re willing to invest some money, here’s a more expansive list of tubes to buy:
● Primaries close to RYB
● Primaries close to CMY
● Black and white
● Secondary colors that you like
● Earthy neutrals
Below are my preferred paints—I like to have a full range of colors, as it opens up options and cuts down on mixing time.
Unfortunately, color names and pigments aren’t universal across brands, so use your best judgment. Sometimes, artists working in traditional mediums share their color lists online which is super helpful.
Conclusion
Even though it may seem like a lot to learn, color theory opens up so many possibilities! It’s best learned with practice, so spend some time making color wheels with your preferred medium. Keeping these color theory references visually handy as you create artwork can be really helpful, especially as you’re getting a firm hold on it.
If you’re looking for a one-stop shop to guide you through the basics of color theory, you can wander over to my Color Workshop: The Basics for Artists and Illustrators Skillshare class. There, you’ll methodically build up skills to be a confident colorist in your art practice.
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