A color wheel puts the colors in a circle: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and back to red. Each secondary color sits between the two colors that make it.
Colors across from each other are opposites: red and green, yellow and purple, blue and orange.
Key idea
Opposite colors sit straight across the wheel. Side by side, they make each other look bright.
Why it works
Put red next to green and both look stronger. Artists use opposites to make part of a picture pop, like a red apple among green leaves.
Worked example: Let's look
What is the opposite of blue?
- Put your finger on blue.
- Go straight across the middle of the wheel.
- You land on orange.
Answer: Orange.
Common mistake
Some children think opposite colors "don't go together." Opposites side by side look bright and lively; that is why artists like them. (Mixed together in paint, though, they make a dull brown.)
For the grown-up. Look for opposites in picture books, flags and sports uniforms: a red bird on a green branch, an orange fish in blue water. Ask your child which color makes the other look brighter.