Colour Wheel

Can all people see colours? Can you see all colours clearly? Can all animals see colours perfectly? Red, yellow and blue are the primary colours. Primary colours are the most basic colours. You can't make them by mixing any other colours. Orange, green and purple are the secondary colours. A secondary colour is made by mixing two primary colours. For instance, if you mix red and yellow, you get orange.

A colour wheel shows how colours are related. On a colour wheel, each secondary colour is between the primary colours that are used to make it. Orange is between red and yellow because orange is made by mixing red with yellow. What goes between secondary colours and primary colours? Intermediate, or tertiary, colours are made by mixing a primary colour with a secondary colour that is next to it. Red-orange, yellow-orange and yellow-green are some intermediate colours. TRY IT! Making a colour wheel is a good way to understand how colours work. Start with red, yellow, and blue paint—the primary colours. Use these to make secondary colours. Then make tertiary colours by mixing primary colours with the nearest secondary colours. (For example, you might mix yellow with green to make yellow-green, or yellow with orange to make yellow-orange.)