Colour Psychology in Art: A Simple Beginner’s Guide

Colour psychology in art is an important but often overlooked subject that artists should take time to learn.

But what exactly is it?

Colour psychology in art explains how colours impact human behavior. For this reason, every colour has different meanings, values, and psychological impacts on an individual’s mood. These factors influence the way a person engages with artwork.

By learning about colour psychology, you’re able to effectively use colour to express a specific atmosphere, evoke a feeling, or convey meaning.

For this reason, the colours you use in your artwork will have a large impact on the way the viewer interprets your works of art.

So, let’s have a look at colour psychology basics to understand how colours impact art.

What Do Colours Symbolize in Art?

The psychology of colour is powerful because it has a strong subconscious impact on the person who is viewing a work of art.

For this reason, it’s important that you familiarize yourself with how colours impact mood.

The warm colours include red, orange, and yellow. Some words that best describe this group of colours are warmth, strength, and anger.

But, individually, each of these colours represent different emotions, associations, and meanings.

For example, here is the breakdown of what warm colours symbolize:

On the other hand, the cool colours include blue, green, and purple. The best words that describe this group of colours include calm, coolness, and sadness.

Just like the warm colours, these individual hues all symbolize different things such as:

Last but not least, the neutral colours include white, gray, and black.

This group of colours is special because they harmonize with most colours.

Individually, each neutral colour symbolizes the following:

How is Colour Psychology Used in Art?

It should be noted that colour psychology is interpreted differently around the world due to individual cultural understandings and associations with each colour.

Therefore, take note that this article focuses on how colours are interpreted in Western cultures.

Artists who use colour psychology in art are intentionally using colours to elicit a mood, emotion, atmosphere, or meaning.

For example, an artist might use various shades of blue in a monochrome watercolour painting to convey feelings of coolness and calmness.

Alternatively, an artist might use a palette of earthy tones such as greens and browns in a drawing to illustrate some deeper meaning about nature or the environment.

Whatever you choose to do, it’s good practice to consider how you plan to use the psychology of colour in your art.

Expand your knowledge of this topic by checking out this article which breaks down the basics of colour theory for artists.

Colour Psychology in Painting: Next Steps

Now that you have a solid understanding of the basics of colour psychology for artists, it’s time for you to create some colourful art.

Luckily for you, you’re ready to enroll in my online course titled Monochrome Watercolour Painting: Master Value And Tone With One Colour to learn how to use colour psychology in monochromatic art.

In this fun watercolour course, you learn how to create four different monochrome watercolour paintings that each use a different pigment.

To learn more about this exciting learning opportunity, click the image below!

This article originally appeared on Foxsy.

Miranda Balogh

Artist & Online Educator

Miranda Balogh is a self-taught artist who inspires her audience to step into their power as artists so they can create beautiful artwork with confidence. Subscribe to her art channel on YouTube to enjoy more art content!