With so many versions of the color wheel available today, one of the most frequent questions I'm asked is which of these is the best. My answer is the one that doesn't try to think for you. Try this: Google "color wheel" for "images' rather than "web." (I'll wait.) Confused?
For me as an artist and teacher, the color wheel is as basic a need as a measuring cup is for a chef. It is our thinking tool. No matter how advanced or masterful we become in painting, without reference to the order, relationship and behavior of colors, we're wandering in the wilderness.
But there's another chef analogy: microwaved meals vs meals cooked from scratch. Color wheels that include bells and whistles that are supposed to show you results of mixing certain colors are a waste of money and misleading. Nothing can substitute your being able to look at a wheel and make decisions for yourself. You need only to know how.
Here are some basic guidelines: (Apologies if I'm preaching to the choir.)
1. You need a wheel that has 12 hues, such as the one above: the primaries, secondaries and tertiaries
2. The wheel has a warm side and a cool side.
3. On a 12-hue wheel, complements are located opposite each other. Mixing these will lower the intensity of the hue.
4. On a 12-hue wheel, each primary has a set of analogous colors to the right and to the left. These colors harmonize one another.
With a simple, no-nonsense 12-hue color wheel and this four basic understandings, you can solve an unlimited array of color problems.
Happy painting,
