Tip: Shared Light Color Harmony

One theory of color harmony is that the more similar colors are to each other the more harmonious they appear. This is easy to see on a color wheel. Analogous colors (that is, colors that are adjacent to each other on the wheel) appear less discordant than complementary colors do. This is because the hues are more similar. Color harmony can also be enhanced when colors become closer in value or intensity.

Nature does a great job of producing harmonious colors. It makes colors more similar by influencing them with a common light source. All colors on the ground are bathed in the same light that comes from the sky. This is true whether the light is bright blue, grey overcast, or a warm orange-red. In each case the colors we see are united as they come closer in hue, value, and intensity. For example, the reduced light from a sunset lowers the value of the colors on the ground. It reduces the intensity of the colors and makes all hues warmer in appearance. The result is a set of colors that are more similar and pleasing when viewed together.

Look at the following two color strips. They each have the primary and secondary colors in them. The first set of colors are untouched and could not be more different. The second set are identical with the exception that some blue has been added to each of the hues. In spite of the sharp contrast between the original colors, can you see how making them more similar in hue results in them appearing more natural when viewed together.