Color Bias: Split Primary Color Wheel

Below is a previous post on a split color wheel. It contains some links that I don't think are active anymore, but I will check. Please read first:

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/8812132386157895665/4240977623940030232

When trying to make colors, the emphasis is on color BIAS, not warm or cool. If you think more about what a color leans toward (bias) then it is easier to make the colors you want. 

Here is the color wheel we made today, step by step. Choose your primary colors carefully. You want a distinct difference in your reds (one distinctly magenta, one leaning toward orange, etc.) Placing your colors side by side will help you choose which blue leans toward green, which leans toward violet; which red leans to orange, which look more violet; and which yellow looks orange, which looks lemony. 

For this one I chose Pthalo blue, French Ultramarine; Red Rose and Permanent red: New Gamboge and Hansa Light.  Here is the pattern used. The outer rim is for the split primary, with biases facing each other.  The second circle is for opposite bias.

Step one is to paint in your primaries. I have the green bias yellow (lemony) facing the green bias blue (pthalo--or cerulean or cyan). The orange bias yellow faces the orange bias red on the left.And at the bottom, the magenta--purple leaning red--faces the French Ultramarine, which is a purple leaning (bias) blue.

Step two is to make the secondary colors--green, orange, and violet--from the primaries that have the same bias. So the Hansa light will mix with the pthalo blue to create a pretty green. Make this as perfectly green as you can, not too yellow, not too blue. See where it is places on the wheel. The Orange leaning red will mix with the new gamboge, the orange  leaning yellow, to create as orange a color as you can. Create the violet with the violet leaning red and the violet leaning blue (which face each other on the wheel). Your secondary colors should look really bright and pretty.

Complete the wheel by making a yellow green, adding more yellow to the green mix; and a blue green by adding more pthalo to the green. Do the same for yellow orange and red orange; red violet and blue violet. 

Now to create some mud.

On the second circle, switch the primary colors, so that opposite biases face each other.

(see the picture below)

Make sure you label your colors as you go. You may find out that you'd prefer to change one of your primaries. (ex: Pthalo blue and an orange bias red are practically gray. You might want to use cerulean or cyan instead. Experiment)

Then create your secondaries with the opposite bias colors. (Because you switch places, they will be facing each other on the second ring) Example, you now have an orange bias yellow facing a purple bias green...so the green will be more dull. Oranges, however, tend to still be pretty regardless of bias. Just more flesh colored when the bias doesn't match.

Here is one I made two years ago. When I finished, I took some of my other tubes of color, and tried to find out where they would lie on the color wheel. You can see the little dots with labels after them. 

I also added a cardboard insert to help me find color combinations.

"Swatching" color cards

This is a really useful tool to help you figure out what combinations you can make with just these 6 colors.

I made 12 cards, about 2 1/2 inches by 4 1/2 inches. (I just cut 9 x 12 inch paper into 12 cards). This is from watercolor paper. 

I labeled the two colors at the top. (These may look backward to you, but I am left-handed) The first card you see has hansa yellow light (HL) and Magenta (Mag). I painted a square of hansa mixed with a little magenta to make a yellow orange. I wet the left side with water, and painted the same mix lightly, so that it is a watered down version of that shade.

Then I added a little more magenta to that mix to make as orange a color as I could. Painted it dry on the right (for a strong color); wet the paper on the left, and painted that into the water---same color, but a "tint", or watered down. (it's important to be able to see the watered down version of the colors)

Last, I added more magenta, to make more of a red orange; Painted it dry on the right. Wet the paper on the left. Paint into the water for a tint of that color.

I did that with each combination of yellow and red possible and labeled them.

Here are the purples....

And the greens. 12 cards in all. 

With cards like this, you can take any photo reference and determine what combination of colors you will need to make the colors in your reference. 

It's important to know what you can do with what you have available. A standard, purchased color wheel is very useful, but it doesn't tell you what your paints will do for you.

I also like to do this with my "favorite" colors, those that aren't considered primaries, like quinacridone gold or prussian blue, and see what combinations I can make with those. This helps you to discover what you can make with a more limited palette. It also helps you decide what colors you actually need in your palette. 

There are several good youtubes on split primary palettes if you have the time to look up the subject.

What's HOT and what's NOT?

Color temperature in art is actually based on emotions most people feel on viewing a color.

It is almost directly opposite of science. In science, blue flames are hotter than orange ones.

But in art, orange is considered the hottest color, and the closer you are to orange the warmer you are. Blue is directly opposite, so blue is your coolest color. Both red and yellow primaries are warm.

Where I always waffle is the greens and violets. Most color wheels consider greens cool.

Many consider red violet warm and some consider yellow green warm. It's easier for me to think of bias.

But you will run into many references to warm and cool colors, so it's good to know which are which.

When you are asked to use a "warm" red, that means use one that leans to orange. If you want a cool red, it leans to blue or violet. A "warm" yellow leans to orange. A cool yellow has NO orange in it, but leans to green or lemon. A "cool" blue leans to green, such as pthalo or cyan. A "warm" blue looks a bit more purple in comparison.