• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • About
  • Blog
    • Watercolour
    • Drawing and Sketching
    • Tutorials
    • Art Education
    • Reviews
    • Social Media for Artists
  • YouTube
  • Free Resources
  • Digital Products
  • My Art Supplies
  • Work With Me
  • Contact Me
  • Mobile Menu Widgets

    Connect

    Search

Miranda Balogh

Miranda Balogh

Dream • Create • Inspire

  • ABOUT ME
  • Blog
    • WATERCOLOUR
    • DRAWING AND SKETCHING
    • TUTORIALS
    • ART EDUCATION
    • REVIEWS
    • SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ARTISTS
  • FREE RESOURCES
  • YouTube
  • Courses & Ebooks
  • Art Supplies

Colour Psychology in Art: A Simple Beginner’s Guide

March 21, 2023 · In: Art Education

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.

Table of Contents

  • What Do Colours Symbolize in Art?
  • How is Colour Psychology Used in Art?
  • Colour Psychology in Painting: Next Steps
  • Miranda Balogh

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:

In colour psychology in art, the warm colours are red, orange, and yellow. Red is associated with power and passion. Orange is associated with energy and optimism. Yellow is associated with positivity and happiness.

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:

In colour psychology, the cool colours are blue, green, and purple. Blue is associated with trust and serenity. Green is associated with nature and growth. Purple is associated with royalty and creativity.

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:

In colour psychology, the neutral colours are white, gray, and black. White is associated with purity and innocence. Gray is associated with formality and neutrality. Black is associated with mystery and elegance.

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.

Why is colour psychology important for artists? It’s important because the psychology of colour reveals how colour impacts mood and human behaviour. All colours have different meanings and values associated with them. For example, red is associated with love or anger whereas green represents nature. As such, colour psychology in art plays a huge role because the colour palette an artist uses has a psychological and emotional impact on the person who is viewing the artwork.

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!

Learn how to use the paint-to-water ratio and use values to improve your paintings. To do this, enroll is Miranda Balogh's online course titled Monochrome Watercolor Painting: Master Tone and Value with One Color.

This article originally appeared on Foxsy.


Miranda Balogh

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!

    By: Miranda Balogh · In: Art Education · Tagged: Beginner Artist

    You’ll Also Love

    Learning how to shade with pencil can be tricky for complete beginners. To help them succeed, this blog post shares the best shading tips and techniques to create smooth shading. As well, this blog post explains the importance of studying light and shadow, layering graphite properly, and using a variety of values to create contrast. So check out these art tips to discover how to improve your pencil shading skills.How to Improve Your Shading for Better Drawing Results
    If you want to learn how to get better at drawing and improve your sketching skills, you need to know how to practice drawing. To do this, you need to learn how to use values in your drawings and pick good reference photos. As well, you should do easy drawing exercises and draw from life to improve your art skills. So check out these beginner drawing tips to discover how to start drawing with confidence.How to Get Better at Drawing in 4 Simple Steps
    In this ultimate drawing guide, you learn how to draw as a complete beginner. In it, you start by learning about the best drawing supplies for beginners. Then, you learn about the fundamentals of drawing including shapes, values, and basic drawing techniques. As well, you learn about easy drawing tips to help you get started with drawing. And as a bonus, this guide shares a list of easy drawing ideas that are perfect for beginners.How to Draw for Beginners: Everything You Need to Know

    Reader Interactions

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Next Post >

    How to Paint Watercolour Florals for Beginners (10 Minute Tutorial)

    Primary Sidebar

    Follow Me

    SEARCH

    Meet The Artist

    Meet The Artist
    Hey there!

    My name is Miranda! I'm an artist and art educator from Canada. My mission is to teach you how to confidently step into your power as an artist so you can create beautiful artwork that you're proud of! I’ll show you that...

    Read My Story

    SUBSCRIBE TO MY ART CHANNEL

    Subscribe to Miranda Balogh's art channel on YouTube to watch free watercolour tutorials, get drawing and sketching tips, and get tons of art advice to make you a better artist.

    ENROLL IN THE WATERCOLOR ACADEMY

    Check out the Foxsy Watercolor Academy to learn how you can improve your watercolour paintings and become the artist of your dreams!

    Footer

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer
    • Terms and Conditions
    • About Me
    • Contact Me
    • Work With Me

    Copyright © 2025 · Designed by Foxsy

    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
    Do not sell my personal information.
    COOKIE SETTINGSACCEPT
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
    CookieDurationDescription
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
    viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
    Functional
    Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
    Performance
    Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
    Analytics
    Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
    Advertisement
    Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
    Others
    Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
    SAVE & ACCEPT