Complementary colors

Complementary colors are pairs of colors which, when combined or mixed, cancel each other out (lose hue) by producing a grayscale color like white or black. When placed next to each other, they create the strongest contrast for those two colors. Complementary colors may also be called 'opposite colors.'A traditional color star developed in 1867 by Charles Blanc. The traditional complementary colors used by 19th-century artists such as Van Gogh, Monet and Renoir are directly opposite each other.The colors of the RGB color model, which uses combinations of red, green, and blue light on a black screen to create all the colors seen on a computer display or television. Complementary colors are opposite each other.The HSV color wheel has the same complementary colors as the RGB color model, but shows them in three dimensions.A chart of color combinations.RGB complementary colors magenta and green provide a high contrast and reinforce each other's brightness.Red and cyan are complementary in the RGB color model.Blue and yellow are also complementary in the RGB model.Newton's color circle (1704) displayed seven colors. He declared that colors opposite each other had the strongest contrast and harmony.A Boutet color circle from 1708 showed the traditional complementary colors; red and green, yellow and purple, and blue and orange.The color wheel designed by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1810) was based on the idea that the primary colors yellow and blue, representing light and darkness, were in opposition to each other.Impression, Sunrise by Claude Monet (1872) featured a tiny but vivid orange sun against a blue background. The painting gave its name to the Impressionist movement.Oarsmen at Chatou by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1879). Renoir knew that orange and blue brightened each other when put side by side.In this self-portrait (1889), Vincent Van Gogh made the most of the contrast between the orange of his hair and the blue background.Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh (1889) features orange stars and an orange moon.The Night Café by Vincent van Gogh (1888) used red and green to express what van Gogh called 'the terrible human passions'.Orange life rafts provide the highest contrast and visibility seen against blue water.Red and cyan glasses are used for viewing Anaglyph 3D three-dimensional images on the Internet or in print.This image, viewed with red and cyan Anaglyph 3D glasses, will appear in three dimensions. Complementary colors are pairs of colors which, when combined or mixed, cancel each other out (lose hue) by producing a grayscale color like white or black. When placed next to each other, they create the strongest contrast for those two colors. Complementary colors may also be called 'opposite colors.'