Color Relationships
How colors combine
Color · LEARN
Colors behave differently next to each other — Josef Albers called color the most relative medium in art, and the relationships between hues are where that relativity becomes usable. Complementary colors sit opposite on the wheel and energize each other; analogous colors sit side by side and calm each other; triadic schemes balance three hues evenly around the wheel for rich but stable combinations.
Split-complementary, tetradic, and monochromatic schemes extend the same logic. The classic working rule: let one color dominate, one support, and one accent. Most failed palettes are not bad colors — they are equal-weight colors fighting for attention.
Types of color schemes
- Complementary — opposites on the wheel
- Analogous — neighbors on the wheel
- Triadic — three hues, evenly spaced
- Split-complementary — a hue plus its opposite's two neighbors
- Tetradic — two complementary pairs
- Square — four hues, evenly spaced
- Monochromatic — one hue in tints and shades
- Achromatic — neutrals only, no hue