Hi! It’s Kristine from Olive Twig Studio again, with another Color Theory lesson. This lesson is on blue. Blue is the most common favorite color of people around the world – so I’m hoping that most of you are extra excited for this lesson.
Blue is the color of the sky and sea. It can symbolize stability, trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, cleanliness, health, faith, truth, tranquility and calmness. Deep blue can represent knowledge, power, integrity, and seriousness. That is probably why it is the most commonly used color in corporate identity branding.
Blue is beneficial to the mind and body in that it slows human metabolism and produces a calming effect. (So – a great choice to decorate with in a nursery or bedroom).
The opposite color from blue on the color wheel is orange, so it is considered its “complement” Blue and orange are my favorite complementary dynamic duo. So, in honor of being the best complementary pairing (in my opinion) I made a bunch of blue and orange pairing suggestions for your viewing pleasure:
This flower crown lady painting is painted with only blue and orange paint (even the green leaves and brown hair is a mix of orange and blue). Blue is a “cool” color, which “recedes” to the eye which makes it the perfect color to mix into a skin tone in the shadowed areas.
This cactus and succulent painting was also painted with only blue and orange. All those pretty, springy olive greens are made mixing a little orange into the blue paint. Blue mixed with yellow makes a classic green color. Blue mixed with orange makes a more muted green which is more commonly found in nature.
A couple fun facts about blue:
53% of the flags in the world contain blue.
Blue is for a baby girl; pink for a baby boy in Belgium.
“Prince Charming” is called “The Blue Prince” in Italy and Spain.
I hope you enjoyed this color theory lesson on blue! My goal is that you learned something new and feel inspired to use color in a new way. I’d love to see anything you create with your new knowledge on blue – tag it #OliveTwigLA and spread the color theory love. If you are a fan of the art in this post, it is available for purchase in my Etsy shop.
Absolutely stunning! Blue just seems perfect for summer 🙂
This is stunning!
This is seriously gorgeous! And I'm one of those many many blue lovers so I particularly love this shade.
LOVE this color. Beautiful for summer, but really a timeless shade 🙂
Will we get more color theory posts? These are very inspirational and I’d like to see what other points you have to share 🙂