ART101, the Color Wheel

I stayed on the musical instrument kick for another 2 paintings post inspiration via Robert's electric guitar playing.  Painting a set of drums seemed like the next logical step after I finished painting his guitar.   

"Ready to Rock" 5x7 watercolor on paper by Holly B. Johnson ©2012

Here's a quick art lesson for ya- 

I'm sure you can name the 3 primary colors:  red, blue, yellow.

Those other 3 popular colors that you know and love are called secondary colors:  purple, green, and orange. 

All together they look like this on a color wheel-

"Elementary, my dear Watson"

(There's also a whole other set of colors between the primary colors and secondary colors called tertiary colors but I won't go in to all that right now!)

so...

Colors directly opposite each other on a color wheel are called complementary colors.  For instance, ORANGE is the complement to BLUE.  Naturally I paired these two colors together in my drum painting.   

I used complementary colors in this watercolor too, YELLOW and PURPLE.

"Music Maker" 5x7 watercolor on paper by Holly B. Johnson ©2012

This painting doesn't really "go" with the guitar and drum set I previously painted but it was the next instrument that came to mind on my music roll.  Lots of people play the piano and I just thought somebody might like it.  I tried to make the background smooth and flowing, sorta like the notes coming from the piano might be.  It's a direct contrast to the loud, wildly splattered background that seemed appropriate for the drum set. 

Complementary colors are actually everywhere if you look.  They're naturally pleasing to the eye and just "work" together. 

Back to ORANGE and BLUE for example...

Exhibit A

My Elmer's glue.

Exhibit B

A real Auburn fan next to me and Robert (temporary Auburn fans).

There's soooooo many others too.  How about the Florida Gators, the Chicago Bears,  the New York Mets... there's Visa... ING...Tide detergent... ever been to an AT&T store?

There's a method to the madness people.