Secondary colours
Secondary colours are made by mixing equal amounts of primary colours together:
- Blue and red mixed together make purple
- Yellow and red mixed together make orange
- Blue and yellow mixed together make green
Purple, orange and green are secondary colours. On the colour wheel, each secondary colour sits halfway between the two primary colours it is mixed from.
The Tiger, Franz Marc, 1912, oil on canvas, painting / Alamy Stock Photo
Franz Marc uses primary and secondary colours in The Tiger.
The tiger is made from bold yellow and black shapes. They stand out against the blue leaf shapes in the bottom left of frame and the purple areas to the top right.
There is a closer harmony with the green and orange – both secondary colours that contain yellow. These colour relationships and the similar shapes used suggest the tiger is at home in its surroundings.
The Tiger, Franz Marc, 1912, oil on canvas, painting / Alamy Stock Photo