Art and representation: responding

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Experimenting with paint and colours
   1. The colour circle
   2. Mixing secondary colours
   3. Complementary and tertiary colours
   4. Mixing black and darkening colours
   5. Paint effects
3. Investigating other artists' works
4. Experimenting with still life arrangements
   1. Collecting the objects for a still life
   2. Arranging the objects
   3. Selecting a viewpoint
   4. Alternative arrangements
   5. Other artists' ideas
5. Task
6. Copyright/disclaimer

Complementary and tertiary colours

Complementary colours are colours that are opposite each other on the colour circle, such as orange and blue.

'Complement' means to make whole. Blue and orange (made by mixing red and yellow) contain all three primary colours (red, blue and yellow). When you mix any secondary colour (such as orange) with any opposite primary colour (such as blue), the resulting colours are called tertiary colours - they have all three primary colours in them.

Complementary colours react to each other in a similar way as black and white do.

• When black is next to white the contrast enhances them, making white seem lighter and the black seem darker.
• When you mix them together they neutralise each other to create grey.

Blue and orange, when placed next to each other, enhance each other. When mixed they neutralise each other and make a dark neutral colour between brown and black. It is the same for yellow with purple and red with green.

Find out for yourself how many different colours you can mix between orange and blue, red and green, and purple and yellow. Try adding touches of white to some of these colours.