What is a color wheel
It's a circle that arranges colors by hue. Neighbors look alike and opposites contrast. It helps you pick combinations that work, in design, home decor or fashion.
Primary, secondary and tertiary colors
On screens the primaries are red, green and blue (RGB). Mixing two primaries gives the secondaries: yellow, cyan and magenta. Tertiaries sit between a primary and a secondary, like orange or violet. Painters use the classic model: red, yellow and blue.
Warm and cool colors
Warm colors run from red to yellow and feel energetic and close. Cool colors run from green to violet and feel calm and distant. One warm color with a few cool ones, or the other way around, adds contrast and keeps balance.