A way of arranging the colors. Used in art.
The color wheel looks like this: (represented
using abbreviations for the colors)
Y
YG / \ YO
G / \ O
BG / \ RO
B-------R
BV RV
V
Y = Yellow YO = Yellow-Orange
R = Red RO = Red-Orange
B = Blue
RV = Red-Violet
O = Orange BV = Blue-Violet
V = Violet
G = Green BG = Blue-Green
YG = Yellow-Green
The color wheel traditionally
has yellow at it's top, and the other
primary colors (red and blue) spaced equidistantly.
Between the primary colors are the colors you can create
by mixing paints of the primary colors, including the
secondary colors and the intermediate colors.
Also, you can use the color wheel to idenitify "special" pairs of colors.
Colors opposite each other on the color wheel are called
contrasting colors and usually make grey when they are mixed.
For example, violet and yellow are contrasting colors.
Colors next to each other on the color wheel are called analogous colors.
Red-violet, red, and red-orange would be an example.
Note that the color wheel does not show tints and shades.
Also, colors like red-violet are named with the primary color first.