The Colour Wheel that is used by Image Consultants the world over today, has a very interesting background. Initially it had nothing to do with people and everything to do with art.

But, before that, colour has a fascinating history.

The first ‘colours’ were: Blue, Green, Red and Yellow. We’re talking first civilisations here. The colours used were only these four. However, they were not called ‘colours’ as the word didn’t exist in language at that point, and didn’t have the names we use to describe them today. They were used in native art, cave paintings, facial decoration and clothes and represented what the people then were surrounded by. Ie, Blue for the sky, Green for trees and the grass, Yellow for the sun and Red for fire.

Moving forward many, many centuries to Aristotle who was the first person to use the word ‘colour’. Aristotle gave birth to the theory of colour, that colour is a perception; it is refractions of light with energies.

Leonardo da Vinci introduced White into the spectrum creating hues and tones. Chervil introduced comparisons – contrasting colour and Isaac Newton was the first person to introduce a Colour Wheel.

There are two main systems used today, the Bauhaus and the Munsell Scale.

The Munsell Scale

This is a scale used to stretch all colours from 0 – 10 depending on the depth of colour

For example

Lilac

0 = Palest Lilac

10 = Deep Purple

Blue

0 = Palest Powder Blue

10 = Dark Navy

If you need to dress with authority, make sure the shade of colour you wear is not below a number 5 on the Munsell Scale. The higher the number the higher to authority.

The Bauhaus

The founder of the Bauhaus School of Art and Architecture in 1930’s in Berlin was Walter Gropius. He noticed that when his students went out to paint a scene, the same scene came back looking completely different. The sky was blue, that grass was green, the poppies were red, but they were different shades. He wanted to discover why his students interpreted the same scenes differently – what was going on inside of them that made the difference?

To find out he commissioned one of his students, Johannes Itten to do research into colour. Itten’s research led him create the first half of the Colour Wheel that is still used today by Image Consultants. He discovered that every colour has a temperature, dependant upon how much yellow or blue pigment it contains. All colours contain the three primary colours of red, yellow and blue. Some shades have more blue pigment and some shades have more yellow pigment. This gives colour its temperature. If a colour has more yellow pigment it is ‘warm’ if it has more blue pigment it is ‘cool’.

Later another student of the Bauhaus, Kandinsky, took the process to the next stage and gave colour shape and form. Some colours have sharp, straight lines and some have muted curved lines.

Hence the 4 divisions of the Colour Wheel were born. Colours are either warm or cool, muted or clear.

How does this relate to the seasons?

Autumn Muted and Warm

Spring Clear and Warm

Summer Muted and Cool

Winter Clear and Cool

How does this translate to people?

If you have a predominantly warm skin, ie yellow/olive tones you will be ‘Blue based’. This means that yellow is at the forefront of your skin and blue is at the back. You need to bring the blue forward by wearing colours that have a predominant blue tone to them to balance your skin tone.

If you have a predominantly cool skin, ie ivory/pale tones, you will be ‘Yellow based’. This means that blue is at the forefront of your skin and yellow is at the back. You need to bring the yellow forward by wearing colours that have a predominant yellow tone to them to balance your skin tone.

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