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Unless you do nothing but greyscale artwork, color is perhaps the most important aspect of a piece of art. Color is what sets the overall mood, the "feel" of a painting, drawing, or photograph. Knowing how to select the right colors for your art, then, is essential.

THE RED FAMILY
The red family contains red, red-violet, fuschia, vermillion, crimson, scarlet, and red-orange. This family of colors invokes a sense of heightened energy; perhaps anger, violence, lust, passion or love. They are wild and dangerous colors, not ones to be tamed or tied down. They should not be used if you are trying to create a calm or serene atmosphere. The red family is also arrogant and selfish - when used it should either dominate the scene, or be used in very tiny amounts to draw attention to one spot.

THE YELLOW FAMILY
The yellow family contains yellow, gold, white, chartreuse, and light oranges. Like the red family, yellows are high-energy. However they are lighter, more carefree. They are perfect for bright, lighthearted pictures. The yellow family is friendly, and can be combined with almost any other family.

THE GREEN FAMILY
The green family contains green, turquoise, blue, and aquamarine. Greens can be used to create a gentle, mellow atmosphere. They are free-flowing and cool, never aggressive. The green family gets along well with the yellow family, the blue family and the brown family.

THE BLUE FAMILY
The blue family contains all shades of blue, white, black, turquoise, aquamarine, violet, and blue-violet. The blue family is very diverse; it can be calm, cool and gentle, or fierce, cold and unforgiving. It can create a carefree, breezy feel, or a dark, icy grip of death. It all depends on how you use it. When calm, blue gets along well with many families - yellow, green, pink, violet. But when angered, it is best to leave the blue family on its own.

THE VIOLET FAMILY
The violet family contains violet, red-violet, blue-violet, magenta, and fushia. This family generally has a mystical, supernatural feel to it. That's why you see it in fortune-telling shops and such. Purple tends to create the atmosphere of something magical. In a more mundane sense, it's calming, like the green family but since it is so closely related to the red family it is a strangely charged calmness (hence the feeling of magic). Purple works well with any temperament of blue, and with red. The right shades can also be made to work with yellow (usually gold) and green.

THE BROWN FAMILY
The brown family contains brown, beige, tan, chocolate, and all shades of orange. The brown family generates a practical, down-to-earth feel. It is never frivolous and does not deal in the mystical, so it should not be used with the purple family. Browns go well with greens and blues, whose calm and gentle nature compliment brown's practicality. Brown also goes well with the relaxation of yellow. Brown can also work with the red family, but only in the right shades - preferably darker browns, which are stronger and more stable and able to handle red's fierceness.

THE PINK FAMILY
The pink family contains pink, light reds, light purples, and magenta. Like the red family it is cousins with, pink generates an energetic atmosphere, but it is much lighter and not prone to violence. Pinks deal in the emotions of love, giddiness, joy, and just a touch of magic. This is why it is commonly liked by young girls. The pink family goes best with other lighthearted colors, such as blue and yellow, and also with the mystical purple.

Learn more about this author, Hannah Leichstein.
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