The colour circle wheel

1. © 2013 City and Guilds of London Institute. All rights reserved.
Level 2 Diploma in Painting and Decorating
The colour circle/wheel
presentation
Unit 230: Creating and applying colour

2. © 2013 City and Guilds of London Institute. All rights reserved.
Level 2 Diploma in Painting and Decorating
Introduction
• The colour circle was invented by Sir Issac Newton in around 1666
to explain how colours relate to one another. The principle hasn’t
really changed since.
• It is the basis of all colour theory and is the natural order of colour.
• The following slides will explain how the colour wheel is constructed
and introduce you to the six categories contained within it.
• This will enable you to identify and select schemes based on
specific colour types.

3. © 2013 City and Guilds of London Institute. All rights reserved.
Level 2 Diploma in Painting and Decorating
The colour wheel
• The colour wheel, or colour circle as it is also known, is basically a
continuous combination of colour featuring all of the colours in the
colour spectrum.
• It has been slightly changed and developed over the years but its
principles remain the same.
• It begins with primary colours, which are mixed together to form
secondary colours, which are then mixed again with the primary
colours either side of them to form tertiary colours.

4. © 2013 City and Guilds of London Institute. All rights reserved.
Level 2 Diploma in Painting and Decorating
Primary colours
• There are three primary colours red, yellow and blue.
• These form the basis of all other pure colours ie colours that do not
contain tints of white and shades of black.
Red Yellow
Blue
• Primary colours cannot be formed by mixing any other colours
together.

5. © 2013 City and Guilds of London Institute. All rights reserved.
Level 2 Diploma in Painting and Decorating
Secondary colours
The primary colours are mixed together to form three secondary
colours.
+ =
+ =
+ =
red yellow orange
blue
green
purple
yellow
red
blue
230.9

6. © 2013 City and Guilds of London Institute. All rights reserved.
Level 2 Diploma in Painting and Decorating
Tertiary colours
Tertiary means third in the order and the third stage of this process –
mixing the three secondary colours with the three primary colours –
forms the six tertiary colours. These form the natural order of colour.
+ =
+ =
+ =
+ =
+ =
+ =
yellow yellow-green
blue green-bluegreen
blue purple blue-purple
green
purple red purple-red
red orange red-orange
orange yellow orange-yellow
230.10

7. © 2013 City and Guilds of London Institute. All rights reserved.
Level 2 Diploma in Painting and Decorating
Conclusion
Colour is all around us and is something that should never be
underestimated as it has a massive impact on our everyday lives.
Consider how the previous slides would have looked without colour.
yellow yellow-green
blue green-bluegreen
blue purple blue-purple
green
purple red purple-red
red orange red-orange
orange yellow orange-yellow

8. © 2013 City and Guilds of London Institute. All rights reserved.
Level 2 Diploma in Painting and Decorating
Any questions?