What Year Was the Color Wheel Invented?
The color wheel is a circular representation of colors, based off the primary color trio of red, yellow and blue. Primary colors cannot be formed by mixing any other colors and serve as the basis for the formation of secondary colors: green, orange and purple.
History
Sir Isaac Newton first illustrated these color combinations in circular form in 1666.
Significance
The color wheel is used to display visually the relationships between primary colors, secondary colors and complimentary colors (colors directly across the wheel from one another).
Function
Artists and designers use the color wheel as a reference to create functional color schemes or sets of colors.
Effects
Small groups of psychologists tout the emotional effects that colors can have on people. Ancient cultures in China and Egypt believed in healing by colors, a practice they referred to as chromotherapy.
Impacts
Newton's development of the color wheel is generally thought to have formed the basis for the creation of color theory. Basic color theory studies how colors mix and the effects of various color combinations.
Tags: color combinations, color theory, color wheel, color wheel, Color Wheel Invented, secondary colors