Among the hues on a hue wheel or color wheel, there are primary colors from which all other colors can be made, theoretically. The primary colors are red, yellow and blue. The secondary colors are created by adding 2 primary colors together. Red and yellow make orange, yellow and blue make green and blue and red make purple. Lastly there are tertiary colors. These are made by adding a primary color to the secondary color. So add red to orange and you get red-orange. Or add yellow to orange and you get yellow-orange. I hear some of you saying, I know that…I learned it in grade school.
But wait, it isn’t black and white (pun intended). Secondary are not limited to simply orange, purple and green. There are many variations. The same is true of tertiary colors. . The variations depend on the amounts of each hue that is added to another. That’s where the fun begins for a dyer like me. In my dye pot, magic can take place. Did you know that teal and purple can make a navy blue? I wouldn’t have guessed it, but I get that hue time and again with one of the dye types I use. Try this experiment: Use your child’s watercolor set and play with the colors. Make the secondary colors with only red, blue and yellow. Can you make more than one orange hue? Or purple hue? Or green hue? Add a comment and share what you found out.
