Primary Triad

Triadic color schemes use three equally spaced colors around the color wheel. It is very popular among fine artists because it offers a great deal of visual contrast, yet it still retains balance and richness. n color theory, it isn’t as contrasting as a complimentary scheme, and is thus usually perceived as more harmonious.

Triad

Secondary Color Triad

I think that triadic color is also very intuitive, simply because the colors start out with a base of 3 evenly spaced colors that combine to create our color wheel. red-blue-yellow is a natural triadic relationship. So is the secondary color arrangement of green-orange-violet, or you can shift the triangle on the wheel to capture something a little different like yellow-orange, blue-green, and red-violet.

Primary Colors

There is something very zen about the even space between a triadic color scheme. You can see how full and vibrant Mondrian’s Red Yellow Blue appears, as well as Monet’s Regatta at Argenteuil and Nancy Glazier’s Primary Colors.

Red Yellow Blue

Regatta at Argenteuil

So if you have a color wheel when you’re standing in front of the racks upon racks of paint swatches trying to figure it out, just draw an equilateral triangle to any three colors on the wheel and you’ll have insta-color-scheme!