The spectrum is the colors of the rainbow arranged in their natural order: Red - Orange - Yellow - Green - Blue - Purple - Indigo.
Red, Yellow and Blue are the primary colors. These are the three basic colors that are used to mix all hues. Orange, Green and Purple are the secondary colors. They are achieved by mixing two primary colors together.
Tertiary colors are more complex hues that are achieved by mixing primary and secondary colors that are adjacent on the color wheel.
Complimentary colors: Colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel (red and green for example).
When using pastels, avoid using brown and black as much as possible. Mix your dark values on your drawing with your primary or secondary colors. Mixing complimentary colors creates brown. The areas of shadow in this pastel drawing are achieved by mixing hues, not by adding black or brown.
Unlike charcoal, excessive blending with your fingers or paper towel will dull the effect of the colors!
Our first step in-class is to make our own color wheels.