Primary Colors
Primary colors are Red, Blue, and Yellow. These three colors are the basis of the creation of other colors. On the color wheel, each hue is equidistant from each other. All three hues have their own separate stories.
Red thread, beads, color pencil, craft felt, and paper shapes.
Red
Apple. Blood. Wine. Rage. Heart. Republican. Luck. All things that are red or red represents. In western culture, red describes passion and aggression. Red also means food. This is why so many fast-food restaurants use red in their branding. In China, red is the color of luck which is why it is often a popular color in Chinese culture. It was and still is a color associated with royalty and ceremony. Red is the color of the 1st chakra which represents grounding.
It is also the color of revolution; used often by communist countries. Revolution is connected to heated passions which makes red the perfect color to illustrate those feelings. Which is why the red planet, Mars, historically represented war for the Romans.
Red in Nature
Agate slice with bands of red.
Planet Mars gets its scarlet tint from iron oxide or rust. Iron oxide was used to paint prehistoric cave paintings here on Earth. Blood gets its color from oxygenated hemoglobin. Pomegranates, apples, leaves all have carotenoids that create their beautiful hues. Learn more here.
Red Playlist
Thread, craft felt, denim fabric, trim, beads and paint in blue.
Blue
Ocean. Sky. Ice. Blue bloods. Blues music. Blue-collar. Democrat. Boys. This hue is associated with calmness, reliability, and sadness. Blue is the color of the fifth chakra, which represents the ability to communicate. In Britain and the United States, blue is the color of loyalty. Banks and hospitals often use blue in their branding to relay reliability to prospective customers. In ancient Egypt, blue was associated with divinity, so it was often used in paintings and sculptures of divine beings. The Romans saw blue as a color for the working class and barbarians. The clothing of the working class was often blue throughout western history because woad was an easily attainable blue pigment. It also is seen as a masculine color in modern culture, often used to market gender-specific products.
Blue in Nature
Lapis lazuli beads. Lapis lazuli is prized for its blue hue.
Water and sky are often sources of calmness. In nature, the blue sky resides reliably over our heads. In most languages, the word used for “blue" developed later coinciding with the culture’s ability to manufacture blue pigments. Learn more here.
Yellow fabric, beads, thread, wool and colored pencil.
Yellow
Sun. Rubber duckies. Lemon. Emojis. Egg yolks. Bananas. Coward. Saffron. Yellow is known for its eye-catching brightness. It is considered the color of happiness by many cultures because it is the color of sunshine. It is also associated with cowardice in the United States. It is a royal color in China. Yellow is also associated with gold. The color is used for things that are eye-catching like taxis, road signs and to refer to a type of journalism known for sensationalized headlines. The striking nature of the color made it ideal for exclusion through history; both voluntary and involuntary. Buddhist monks wear yellow to show their separation from the world. During the Holocaust, Jewish people were forced to wear yellow stars to easily identify them to the Nazi regime. Learn more here.
Yellow in Nature
Yellow citrine beads.
The yellow color in fruits, flowers, leaves, bacteria, and fungi are created by the presence of carotenoid pigments. Yellow ochre, a painting pigment created from clay, was used to create paintings in the cave of Lascaux and other prehistoric cave artwork. Yellow is the color of the third chakra which represents self-esteem and responsibility.
Yellow Playlist
Yellow Submarine by The Beatles
Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini by Brian Hyland
More Color Theory
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