Many of us would have an interest in painting, perhaps as a hobby or even as a profession. However, to make appealing paintings, you would need to have a basic understanding of colour theory and the way colours go together. Provided below is a summary of how to select the right colours for a painting so that your work of art would appeal to viewers in the way that you desire.

To pick colours effectively, one should find out more about colour theory. The primary colours would be red, blue and yellow; these colours couldn’t be created by mixing other colours in any way. However, all of the other colours would be created by mixing these three fundamental colours. Meanwhile, the secondary colours would be created by mixing the primary colours. Similarly, tertiary colours would be formed by combining a primary colour and a secondary colour. In this way, virtually all imaginable colours could be formed by mixing the basic primary colours. Further, you could modify colours by adding shades of white, black or grey.

According to colour theory, there would be two basic ways of using colour, namely harmony and contrast. These concepts could be created by using complementary, analogous and triadic colour schemes. When looking at the colour wheel, you will see that colours opposite from each other would present a strong contrast when placed next to each other; they would be known as complementary colours. On the other hand, if you select colours adjacent to one another on the colour wheel, the contrast would be minimal; therefore, these colours would be referred to as analogous colours. Finally, a triadic colour scheme would feature colours which are spaced evenly on the colour wheel; this scheme would include both harmony as well as contrast simultaneously.

Different colours would have differing effects when used in a work of art. Although the perceptions created by colour could be subjective to some extent and reflect our cultural traditions, there would be a universal meaning in colours; in other words, they would evoke certain emotions. For instance, the colour red would suggest excitement, passion and anger, whilst yellow would connote energy and warmth. Meanwhile, orange would imply happiness and dynamism. On the other hand, the colour blue could suggest a soothing aspect, sadness and calmness. Colour psychology would be thus very significant in art as well as the sphere of advertising.

The concepts of warm and cold colours would also be important when creating artwork. Warm colours would include red, orange and yellow as well as combinations of these. These colours would generally be dynamic and evoke warmth, passion and excitement as well as hostility and anger.

On the other hand, the cold colours would be found on the section of the spectrum featuring blue and similar colours. These would suggest the cold of winter as well as calmness and sadness. By using these different warm and cold colours, you could evoke the feelings that you desire to convey through your painting. You could witness such clever and pertinent use of colours in paintings for sale in Sri Lanka on offer via online platforms such as the Sri Lankan Art Gallery.

Naturally, to be a successful artist, you would need to put colour theory into practice by selecting suitable colours for your paintings. You would need to develop a practical knowledge of how colours go together or contrast when used with one another. To develop this instinct, you should experiment with various colours and gain an understanding of their natures. Finally, remember that art is also about 'breaking rules' so you are perfectly free to try out new and unusual colour combinations in your creations!