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The Beginnings of Color

The Beginnings of Color
2011/05/10 Maya H.

One of the things I am frequently asked as a personal stylist is whether I'll do a "color analysis" or "use the color wheel" and truth be told, there isn't much magic to the color wheel but rather an innate ability to see complimentary shades, dominant and sub-dominant colors, and accents.  So to demystify the proverbial color wheel, I thought I'd share a few tidbits to remember:

  • The concept of the color wheel was invented by Sir Isaac Newton
  • The color wheel demonstrates which colors are warm and cool, and complementary
  • Cool colors range from blue to violet, have a calming effect, and typically look 'clean and crisp' when paired together
  • Warm colors range from red to yellow, are attention-grabbing and aggressive, and seem to project off the page or a backdrop
  • Complementary colors lie opposite each other on the color wheel, are psychologically pleasing to the eye, and work best if one dominates and the other accents
  • Analogous colors lie adjacent each other on the color wheel and represent examples of hueing

Enough for now....try it out in your closet!  Grab your favorite item and rock an analogous color to hue or go wild/opposite and try a complementary color!

Until next time!

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