Colour, mood and colour schemes

Colour changes how a picture makes us feel. Artists choose colours on purpose, not just to copy what they see.

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Warm and cool

Warm colours are reds, oranges and yellows. They can suggest heat, energy, excitement or anger, and they seem to come forward in a picture.
Cool colours are blues, greens and purples. They can suggest calm, cold, sadness or distance, and they seem to move back.
Landscape painters often make distant hills paler and bluer so they look far away.

Colour schemes

A colour scheme is a planned group of colours.
SchemeWhat it usesEffect
ComplementaryColours opposite on the wheelBold, vibrant contrast
AnalogousColours next to each otherHarmony and calm
MonochromaticTints and shades of one hueUnity, a strong mood
Warm or coolMainly warm or mainly cool coloursA clear mood or temperature

Colour to express feeling

Artists often use colour expressively, to show feelings rather than what things really look like.
Between about 1901 and 1904, the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso painted mainly in blues and blue-greens. This is called his Blue Period, and the paintings often show poverty and sadness.
Saturated (intense) colours feel lively; muted (dull) colours feel quieter.
Worked example

A student is painting a picture called 'A lonely winter night'. Suggest a colour scheme and explain your choice.

  1. The title suggests coldness, sadness and quiet.
  2. Cool colours (blues, purples) suggest cold and calm or sadness.
  3. A mainly cool or monochromatic blue scheme, with muted colours, would create that mood.

Answer: A cool colour scheme (or monochromatic blues) with muted colours, because cool colours suggest cold, calm and sadness.

Key idea

Warm colours (reds, oranges, yellows) feel energetic and come forward; cool colours (blues, greens, purples) feel calm and recede. Colour schemes include complementary, analogous and monochromatic. Picasso's Blue Period used blues to show sadness.

Key words
Warm colours
Reds, oranges and yellows. They can feel energetic or hot and seem to come forward in a picture.
Cool colours
Blues, greens and purples. They can feel calm or cold and seem to move back in a picture.
Monochromatic
Using tints and shades of a single hue.

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Quick check

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Extra practice

2 more questions

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  1. Which of these is a cool colour?

    1. Red
    2. Orange
    3. Yellow
    4. Blue
    Show the answer

    Answer: Blue

    Blues, greens and purples are cool.

  2. Which group contains only warm colours?

    1. Blue, green and purple
    2. Red, orange and yellow
    3. Red, blue and green
    4. Yellow, purple and blue
    Show the answer

    Answer: Red, orange and yellow

    Warm colours are reds, oranges and yellows.

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Sources and references

Last updated 2 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix it.