What Is the Colour Wheel and How Can It Improve Your Colouring?

Have you ever finished a colouring page, looked at it and felt that something about the colours just doesn't quite work? Perhaps every individual colour looks lovely, but somehow they don't feel right together.

This is exactly where the colour wheel can help.

You don't need an art background or an understanding of complicated colour theory to use it. The colour wheel is simply a visual guide that shows you how different colours relate to one another. Once you understand a few basic principles, it becomes much easier to choose colours that feel intentional rather than hoping they'll work when you put them on the page.

It can help you create everything from calm, coordinated cityscapes to bold illustrations with colours that really pop. And once you've mastered the basics, you can take things further by experimenting with different colour harmony schemes.

What Is a Colour Wheel?

A colour wheel is a circular arrangement of colours that shows how they relate to one another.

At its simplest, the wheel begins with the three primary colours: red, blue and yellow. Mixing two primary colours creates the secondary colours: orange, green and purple. Between these sit the tertiary colours, which are created by mixing a primary colour with a neighbouring secondary colour.

Arranging them in a circle makes the relationships between colours much easier to see. You can immediately identify which colours sit comfortably beside each other, which provide strong contrast and which belong to the same general colour family.

That's why a colour wheel for colouring can be so useful. Rather than choosing your pencils or pens at random, you can use the wheel as a simple reference for building a palette before you start.

If you'd like to understand the structure in more detail, our guide to primary, secondary and tertiary colours explains how each group works.

Warm Colours and Cool Colours

One of the easiest things to understand on a colour wheel is the difference between warm and cool colours.

Reds, oranges and yellows are generally considered warm colours. They can make a page feel energetic, cheerful, cosy or vibrant. Because warm colours tend to attract attention, they're particularly useful when you want part of an illustration to stand out.

Blues, greens and purples are generally considered cool colours. They can create a calmer, more peaceful feeling and often work particularly well when you want a colouring page to feel relaxed and cohesive.

Neither group is better than the other. You can use a predominantly warm or cool palette, or introduce a small amount of the opposite temperature to create contrast.

Tints, Shades and Tones

As you explore colour theory, you'll also come across the words tint, shade and tone. They sound technical, but the ideas behind them are very simple.

A tint is a lighter version of a colour. Think of a strong blue becoming a pale blue.

A shade is a darker version of a colour. The same blue could become a much deeper navy.

A tone is a more muted version of a colour, making it feel less intense.

Understanding these variations is useful because a successful palette doesn't necessarily mean using lots of completely different colours. Sometimes several lighter, darker and more muted versions of just a few colours are all you need to create a beautifully varied page.

How to Use the Colour Wheel to Choose Colours for a Page

The colour wheel becomes particularly useful when you're staring at a busy colouring page and wondering where to begin.

Imagine you're about to colour a detailed street scene containing buildings, doors, windows, trees, signs and dozens of smaller details. Choosing a different colour for everything might make the finished page feel chaotic.

Instead, decide how you want the page to feel first.

If you'd like something calm and coordinated, you could choose several colours that sit beside one another on the wheel. If you'd prefer a bold illustration with strong focal points, you could choose colours from opposite sides.

These are known as complementary and analogous colour schemes, and they're two of the easiest ways to turn the colour wheel into a practical colouring tool.

Picking Colours for a Calm, Cohesive Page

For a softer and more unified result, try an analogous colour scheme.

Analogous colours sit next to one another on the colour wheel. Blue, blue-green and green, for example, naturally feel connected because there isn't a dramatic jump between them.

This can work particularly well for detailed or busy colouring pages. Instead of every small section competing for attention, the limited palette helps bring the whole illustration together.

You don't need to use exactly the same three pencils throughout the page either. Try lighter and darker versions of your chosen colours to introduce variety while maintaining the overall harmony.

Picking Colours That Pop

If you'd rather create something bolder, look across the colour wheel rather than beside your starting colour.

Colours sitting directly opposite one another are complementary. Red and green are one example; blue and orange are another.

Because complementary colours are so different from one another, placing them together creates strong visual contrast.

You might colour most of a scene using different blues and then introduce orange for a door, sign or another detail you want to draw attention to. The orange stands out precisely because of its relationship with the blue.

The trick is not necessarily to use both colours equally. Allowing one colour to dominate and using its complement more sparingly often creates a much more balanced result.

Common Colour Wheel Mistakes to Avoid

The colour wheel is a guide rather than a set of rules, so there's no need to worry about getting everything "right". However, there are a few common mistakes that can make a palette harder to work with.

The first is trying to use too many colours from opposite sides of the wheel at once. Contrast can look fantastic, but combining lots of competing colours can result in a page that feels muddy rather than bold.

Another is forgetting about the balance between warm and cool colours. A page consisting entirely of colours with very similar temperatures can sometimes feel flat. A carefully chosen contrasting colour can give the illustration a much-needed focal point.

Finally, test your palette before committing to an entire page. Your pencil might look very different on paper than it does in the box. Make a few small swatches on spare paper and place the colours beside one another. You'll quickly see whether they work together.

Testing is particularly useful if you'll be blending your chosen colours together, because you can see how the pigments interact before using them on your finished page.

Try It on Your Next Page

The best way to understand the colour wheel isn't to memorise it. It's to use it.

For your next Colour Your Streets page, try choosing just one of the two approaches we've covered.

For a calm, cohesive page, select three or four analogous colours sitting beside each other on the wheel. For something bolder, choose a complementary pair from opposite sides.

Then use lighter and darker versions of those colours to complete the rest of the illustration rather than automatically reaching for your usual pencils.

Pick a Colour Your Streets colouring book of your local area or somewhere you know and love and experiment with a palette you wouldn't normally choose. You might be surprised by how much difference one simple colour decision makes.

And if you'd like a regular reason to experiment with new pages and colour combinations, the Colouring Club is another way to keep putting what you've learned into practice.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Are the Three Types of Colours on a Colour Wheel?

The three groups are primary, secondary and tertiary colours. The primary colours are red, blue and yellow. Secondary colours — orange, green and purple — are created by mixing two primary colours. Tertiary colours are created by mixing a primary colour with a neighbouring secondary colour.

What Colours Are Opposite Each Other on the Colour Wheel?

Colours directly opposite one another are known as complementary colours. Examples include red and green, and blue and orange. When used together, complementary colours create strong contrast and can make particular elements of your colouring page stand out.

What Is an Analogous Colour Scheme?

An analogous colour scheme uses colours that sit next to one another on the colour wheel, such as blue, blue-green and green. Because the colours are closely related, they naturally create a calm and cohesive appearance.

Do I Need to Buy a Physical Colour Wheel to Use One?

No. A printed or digital colour wheel chart works perfectly well as a reference. Some colourists prefer keeping a physical wheel beside their pencils because it's convenient, but you don't need to buy one to start applying colour theory to your colouring.

How Do I Stop My Colouring Pages Looking Muddy?

Try not to mix too many colours from different parts of the wheel at once. Start with a simple complementary pair or an analogous group of three or four colours. Once you become more confident with how those colours interact, you can gradually experiment with more complex combinations.