Creating tertiary colors can be a useful skill for artists, designers, and anyone looking to expand their color palette. Tertiary colors are made by combining a primary color with an adjacent secondary color on the color wheel. This results in vibrant hues that bring visual interest to any project. In this article, we will explore what tertiary colors are, how they are created by mixing primary and secondary colors, and some tips for working with tertiaries in your own projects.
What are Tertiary Colors?
The primary colors are red, yellow, and blue. When you mix any two primary colors together, you get the secondary colors – orange, green, and purple. Tertiary colors are made by mixing a primary color with a secondary color that is next to it on the color wheel.
For example:
– Red (primary) mixed with orange (secondary) makes red-orange
– Yellow (primary) mixed with green (secondary) makes yellow-green
– Blue (primary) mixed with purple (secondary) makes blue-purple
Tertiary colors bridge the gap between the primary and secondary colors. They are more complex and nuanced hues. With the three primary colors and three secondary colors, there are six tertiary colors within the basic color wheel.
How to Mix Tertiary Colors
To mix a tertiary color, you’ll need supplies like paint, coloring pencils, or markers in the necessary primary and secondary colors. Here are some tips:
– Start with more of the primary color than the secondary color. The tertiary should resemble the primary hue more closely.
– Add the secondary color gradually. Mixing or layering the colors little by little allows you to achieve subtle variations in the tertiary shade.
– Experiment! Each tertiary can range from a more saturated, brighter version to a more muted, softer version depending on the mixing ratio.
– For a muted tertiary, use less of the primary and more of the secondary. For a brighter tertiary, use more primary color.
Let’s look at specific examples of mixing common tertiary colors:
Red-Orange
Start with a red base and add increasing amounts of orange until you achieve your desired shade of red-orange. Vermillion and cadmium red are good primary red pigments to use.
Yellow-Orange
Mix a lemon yellow primary with various amounts of orange to create yellow-orange hues. Cadmium yellow and hansa yellow work nicely.
Yellow-Green
Mix yellow and green paints, colored pencils, or markers to make yellow-green. Try combinations like lemon yellow with viridian green or cadmium yellow with phthalo green.
Blue-Green
Phthalo or prussian blue mixed with viridian green will produce beautiful blue-green tertiaries. Vary the proportions to achieve light, medium, and dark blue-green.
Blue-Purple
Start with ultramarine or phthalo blue and add violet or magenta to form shades of blue-purple. Paynes gray can also deepen a blue-purple mixture.
Red-Purple
Alizarin crimson and cadmium red mixed together will naturally create red-purple tertiaries. Adding more crimson creates a more violet-tinged purple.
As you can see, the basic technique is the same for mixing any tertiary – start with more primary color and add small amounts of the adjacent secondary until you reach your desired hue. Don’t be afraid to play around and tweak color mixing ratios as you go!
Tips for Using Tertiary Colors
Here are some tips for working with tertiary colors in your artwork or design projects:
– Use tertiaries for shading – they create nice subtle shadows when layered over their primary color. Red-orange can shade red areas, for example.
– Tertiaries make interesting accents in combination with primary/secondary colors. Try yellow-green highlights on purple flowers.
– In landscape paintings, use tertiaries for shadows on snow, grass, water and sky. They add realistic dimension.
– Don’t overwhelm with tertiaries – their complexity can get muddy if overused. Use in moderation with plenty of whites/blacks.
– Optically mix tertiaries instead of physically mixing, when possible. This involves placing brushstrokes of the separate colors near each other so the eye blends them.
– Glazing over an area with a tertiary creates luminous effects. For instance, glazing red-orange over a yellow base deepens the yellow to fiery orange-gold.
Mastering color mixing opens up new possibilities for any artist. Tertiary colors allow you to fill the gaps in the color wheel for a full spectrum of hues. With a little practice mixing primary and secondary colors, you can enliven your palette with the vibrant tones of tertiaries. Feel free to experiment to find your own favorite color combinations!
Color Wheel Showing Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Colors
| Primary Colors | Red | Yellow | Blue | |||
| Secondary Colors | Orange | Green | Purple | |||
| Tertiary Colors | Red-Orange | Yellow-Orange | Yellow-Green | Blue-Green | Blue-Purple | Red-Purple |
Paint Mixing Recipes for Common Tertiary Colors
| Tertiary Color | Recipe |
|---|---|
| Red-orange | Cadmium red + Cadmium orange |
| Yellow-orange | Cadmium yellow + Cadmium orange |
| Yellow-green | Lemon yellow + Viridian green |
| Blue-green | Phthalo blue + Viridian green |
| Blue-purple | Ultramarine blue + Dioxazine purple |
| Red-purple | Alizarin crimson + Cadmium red deep |
Conclusion
Tertiary colors provide artists and designers with a wide range of vibrant hues between the primary and secondary colors. Mixing adjacent colors on the color wheel achieves tertiaries with nuanced tones. Mastering color theory fundamentals like primary, secondary, and tertiary colors enables endless opportunities for creative color mixing and palette expansion. With practice and experimentation, you can put together unique color combinations featuring tertiaries that enliven any artistic composition.
