Colour Theory- The Basics

Image Credit: (Online) Available at: http://fashiondevotee.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/colorwheel1.gif . Accessed 26 October 2013.

As a Make Up Artist, knowing the colour theory will help greatly with many things.  It will help with the basics of colour correcting and colour harmony. To understand the basics of colour theory, having a colour wheel to hand will be of great help, the colour wheel consists of three categories...Primary, Secondary and Tertiary. 

Primary: the three primary colours are: red, yellow and blue. These colours are considered to be foundation or starting colours because they are used to create all other colours and cannot be mixed from any other colours.

Secondary: by mixing two of the primary colours, three secondary colours are formed. For example, when you mix red with yellow, you will get an orange colour. The Secondary colours are: orange, green and violet.

Tertiary: the six tertiary colours are made by combining a primary and an opposite secondary colour. These colours are: yellow – orange, orange – red, red – violet, violet – blue, blue – green, and green – yellow.

Within the colour wheel, there are also warm and cool colours. 

 

A Christian Fantasy Blog: Of Faerie & Faith: Colors in Fantasy, Part 2: Opposites. 2013. (Online_ Available at: http://www.siennanorth.com/2012/11/colors-in-fantasy-part-2-opposites.html. Accessed 26 October 2013.

The colour wheel can be divided into warm and cool tones. By understanding the differences of warm & cool colours, it will help you to understand foundation & concealer colour matching on different colour skin tones.

1. Warm colours are bright and almost aggressive, they tend to be colours that catch your eye. Warm colours include: red, orange, and yellow, and variations of those three colours. In make-up artistry, reds can be cool and warm. If the red is blue based (a red with purple or blue undertone), it is cool. If the red is orange based, it is warm.

2. Cool colours give an impression of calm, and create a relaxed look. Cool colours include: violet, blue, and green.

In make-up artistry, the same theory applies with the colour green. If a green has more gold/yellow undertone, then it is warm. If a green contains more of a blue undertone, then it is cool. Remember, whenever a colour has a blue undertone, it is more than likely to be a cool colour.

When looking at the colour wheel, you can also determine many different colour schemes:

Harmonious:

A harmonious colour is one which sits side by side on the colour wheel which means they are analogous. An example of this is, violet-blue blue-green.

Monochromatic:

A monochromatic colour scheme is made up of different tones, shades and tints of one colour on the colour wheel.

Analogous:

An analogous colour scheme is created by using three colours that are next to each on the colour wheel.

You can find lots of analogous colours in eye shadow palettes. They are perfect for adding definition and highlights because you have different tones of the same colour! You can add the darker colour in the eyelid crease or along the lash line for definition, and you can use the lighter colours for highlights on the brow bone and inner corner of the eye.

Complimentary:

A complimentary colour scheme is created by choosing two shades that are opposite each other on the colour wheel. For example, someone with blue eyes, will be most complimented by using orange, orange or gold colours.

You may find that some complimentary colours can look a bit scary when put together!  So you may want to try an use these colours on separate areas of the face, instead of using them both on one feature of the face.