We have all experienced this when we were starting out: You are well along with a new painting when you realize that Something is Wrong! The problem will be due to one or both of two things: An unbalanced composition or a lack of colour harmony. In another article, I showed you how using what I call 'The Star' can help you avoid design mistakes from the outset. Now, I would like to show you the very best tool you will ever find for getting your colour composition right, every time.

I do not know who invented The Colour Wheel but s/he sure was a friend to every artist who has followed. Models of The Wheel can be found on my website (click on the url at bottom of this article.) You can enlarge, print and copy the models as many times as you wish. Use them to experiment while you become familiar with the principles behind the theory.

You already know there are only three Primary Hues: Red, Yellow, Blue. Where they merge, they create the Secondary colours: Orange, Green, Purple. These are the major colours we see when light is projected through a prism, separating into its different wavelengths. A strip of these colours can be joined to make a circle: The Colour Wheel. Looking at a rainbow, or at a scene in nature, you will notice that many more colours than these are discernible.

And so, the basic principle of The Colour Wheel has been expanded to include the Tertiary colours: Red Purple, Blue Purple, Blue Green, Yellow Green and so on. Using this advanced model, you can make far more accurate colour matches.

Take a ruler and pencil a line joining any colour with the one opposite it on the Wheel. Each is the Complement of the other. For instance, the complement of Red is not Green, but Blue Green. The colours adjacent, or next to, Red are Orange and Red Purple. If you pencil a wedge shape - or 'slice of the pie' - to include the Adjacent and the Dominant hues at the wide end, with the Complement at the pointy end, you will have the basis for a sound colour composition.

If you were to analyse any successful painting you see - in a museum or gallery or art journal - you would find the artist has used colours that fit into this wedge shape on the Wheel. But wait, there is more! No, not a set of steak knives...

Taking that pencil again, draw an equal-sided triangle starting from the Dominant hue. The bottom corners of the triangle will be over the two Discord hues. Used sparingly, these colours will give your painting a pleasing contrast that enlivens the work. The final, and very important, element of your colour composition is made up of the Neutral hues. They are made by mixing a colour with varying amounts of its Complement.

Experiment by drawing a line between two colours, adding just a little more of the Complement to each as you work towards the centre of the Wheel. You can see how lively are the greys you can mix this way. Because they are made from the colours you are using in your painting, they will give the work a satisfying cohesiveness, while letting the eye rest from the dominant hues. A grey made by mixing White with Black is dead, artificial, and does nothing for your artwork.

So here is your 'recipe' for a colour-balanced painting: Dominant hue: comprises the bulk of the composition. Adjacent hues: equal amounts of both, but use less of each than the Dominant. Complement: very small amount (diminished in Chroma - more on that later.) Discord hues: equal, small amounts of each. Neutral hues: mixed from colours used in the painting.

If we take a famous painting we can see how this system works in practice. Because the French Impressionists were the masters of colour, I have chosen as our example a painting by Claude Monet: Poppies near Argenteuil. ( You can see a reproduction of it on my website.)

The painting shows a sunny day in the countryside where two women and their children wander through an open field. A summery sky filled with fluffy white clouds is bordered by a row of dark trees that almost hide a distant farmhouse. The grassy field, scattered with wild poppies, fills the entire foreground. What do we see in terms of colour scheme in this painting?

Dominant hue: Yellow-Green. As the Impressionists were well aware, a bright landscape looks mainly yellow. So, the Yellow-Green grass nearly fills the canvas.

Adjacent hues: Yellow tips the grasses and makes the straw hats of the small figures; a soft Yellow tints the walls of the farmhouse. Green makes a bold line of trees at the horizon and the shadows in the field.

Complement: Purple. The small figure of the woman in the foreground wears a dress of this shade.

Discord hues : Red poppies are clumped in the immediate foreground, softening in intensity of colour as they recede up the grassy slope. Blue sky shows between the clouds and is echoed in the parasol carried by the nearer woman.

Neutral hues : A number of extremely subtle blends of the colours used throughout the painting.

To check how this works, study both models of The Colour Wheel.

Earlier, I mentioned Chroma. This is the intensity of a colour, which can be altered - lowered - by adding small amounts of the colour's Complement. Value refers to the darkness or lightness of a colour. Some hues can never be as deep in Value as others. Looking at the Wheel, you will see that for instance, Yellow can never be as deep in Value as is Purple, even at its greatest intensity, or Chroma. So, how do you use this knowledge to match a particular colour?

For instance, you might need to match a strong, greyish-blue of storm clouds in a landscape. Squeeze from the tube a bit of the blue closest to what you see in the clouds, probably Cobalt Blue. You will modify this with a bit of its complement, which you know is orange. (If you must, you can use Cadmium Orange, but why not mix it yourself from Cadmium Yellow and Cadmium Red?)

It will not look quite right yet. When comparing your mixture with those clouds, try to see whether the difference lies in chroma or value. If the chroma is too intense, add a little more orange. If the value is too dark, add some white. When you have gone overboard with the white, do not be tempted to add black to darken the mixture. Add a bit more Cobalt Blue instead. Keep adjusting until your match is right. At first, you will need a lot of stick-at-it-ness but believe me, it will soon seem easy as pie when the principles have become second nature to you.

When you make it a habit to plan your work by choosing that 'slice of pie' from The Colour Wheel before you start painting, you will never have another failure caused by a poor colour scheme.

About the Author:  © Dorothy Gauvin   Dorothy Gauvin is an internationally acclaimed Australian painter in oils who specializes in an epic theme of Australia's pioneers. She is also the author of what may be the only novel ever published about Australia's 'Secret Civil War' of the 1890s,'Traveller's Luck,' available online. See images of her 'Life-Story' portraits of fascinating and successful people, limited edition prints of Outback heroes and horsemen, plus tips and advice for aspiring artists and collectors on her website at http://www.gauvin.com.au.  Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dorothy_Gauvin