Colours and feelings
Art & Design · Early Years · The School
Warm and cool colours
Red, orange and yellow are often called WARM colours. They can feel bright, hot or fun. Blue, green and purple are often called COOL colours. They can feel calm, cold or quiet. Warm and cool are just a starting point. They are not a strict rule.
Picking a colour for a mood
Want to paint a stormy sky? Try dark blues and greys. Want to paint a sunny day? Try bright yellows and oranges. Picking colours on purpose, to match a mood, is something real artists do too.
Not the same for everyone
Red can feel cross to one person. It can feel fun, like a fire engine, to someone else. There is no one correct feeling for any colour. Ask a friend what a colour makes them feel. Compare it with your own answer.
Try painting the word HAPPY twice, using only colour. No pictures at all, just colour. The first time, use bright yellows, pinks and light blues. The second time, use only grey and brown. Look at both. One of them feels far more like the word HAPPY than the other. That is purely down to the colours picked. This is how an artist can set a mood with colour, even before a viewer sees what the picture shows.