COLOR HARMONIC SCHEMES

  In order to create a sense of unity and order in their painted compositions, artists will often limit their color palettes. There are several such color harmonic schemes. A few of the most basic are listed below.
Monochrome is the use of one hue plus white and black. It makes use primarily of value differences between the tints and shades of one hue.
Analogous is the use of two or more closely-related hues plus white and black. An example of an analogous color scheme might be red, red-orange and orange with and black colors. The primary contrast here is usually value contrast.
Complementary is the use of a pair of complementary hues plus white and black. Because complements mix to a gray, desaturated color, which can be successfully contrasted with purer appearances of the complementary pair, this kind of harmony often makes use of intensity contrast.
Triadic uses three hues equidistant on the color wheel-red, blue and yellow for example-plus white and black.
Artists may also, of course, use the full circle of hues plus white and black to create a work.

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