Key facts about tertiary colours
This image shows an example of a colour wheelA circle showing different groups of colours and how they relate to each other..
You might be able to spot the primary coloursRed, yellow and blue. These colours cannot be made by mixing any other colours together. and the secondary coloursGreen, orange and purple. These colours can be made mixing the primary colours together..
The tertiary colours in the colour wheel sit between a primary colour and a secondary colour. They are the six 'in-between' colours.
In the colour wheel, tertiary colours sit between the two colours that you can mix together to make them.
The six main tertiary colours
There are six main tertiary colours. Artists use what they know about colours to help them make their art.
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Who was Hilma af Klint?
The painter Hilma af Klint was born in 1862 in Stockholm, Sweden and died in 1944. Hilma used many primary, secondary and tertiary colours in her work.
She is said to be one of the first abstractArt that doesn't represent reality, but uses shapes, colours and textures for effect. painters.
Hilma af Klint's paintings
Hilma af Klint's work uses bold colours and geometric shapes. She also used shades and tints of colours - lighter and darker tones.
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Hilma af Klint factfile
Watch: learn about mixing tertiary colours to use in your paintings
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Did you know?
- The scientist Sir Isaac Newton created the first colour wheel in 1704.
- Primary, secondary and tertiary colours can all be found in nature. Just look at this bowl of fruit!
- Many other painters use tertiary colours in their work, for example Georgia O'Keefe in this painting of the New Mexico landscape in the southern USA.
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