Art Encyclopedia - Complementary Colours

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Complementary Colours
Two colours are seen to be complementary colours if when they are mixed together they produce a shade of gray or brown. In most colour models whites is toward the centre with complementary colours lying opposite each other.

Many artists still use the traditional set of complementary pairs namely: red and green, blue and orange; yellow and purple. The complement of each primary color (red, blue, or yellow) is roughly the color made by mixing the other two in a subtractive system (red + blue = purple; blue + yellow = green; red + yellow = orange).

In art complementary colours are important as placing two complimentary colours next to each other make each colour appear brighter.