#split complementary colors

This is inspired by a post I wrote answering an ask about the triadic color scheme. So, let's dive into color harmonies.

There are a couple of ways to create color harmony, and some of the most common are:

Analogous color scheme (which I usually refer to as "related colors")

Monochromatic color scheme

Complementary/contrasting color scheme

Split complementary color scheme

Triadic color scheme

There are also other color harmonies like the tetradic color scheme (which forms a rectangle across the color wheel and includes 4 colors) and the square color scheme (which forms a square across the color wheel and also includes 4 colors) to name a few. But I'm keeping it (somewhat) basic in this post.

Value (dark/light) and intensity (saturated/muted) also play a role in color harmonies, but I'm keeping it simple in this post by just focusing on color combinations.

As always when explaining these things, I need this visual aid to help me:

(This is a photo I took of a color-wheel illustration in Betty Edwards' book "Color".)

This is a traditional color wheel with 3 primary colors, 3 secondary colors, and 6 tertiary colors.

(I'm putting their numbers in the list below so you'll know which color I'm referring to on the color wheel.)

The colors are:

12: Yellow (primary)

1: Yellow-Orange (tertiary)

2: Orange (secondary)

3: Red-Orange (tertiary)

4: Red (primary)

5: Red-Purple (tertiary)

6: Purple (secondary)

7: Blue-Purple (tertiary)

8: Blue (primary)

9: Blue-Green (tertiary)

10: Green (secondary)

11: Yellow-Green (tertiary)

(Not that this will matter to the post, but if you're interested: The primary colors can't be created by mixing other colors/pigments. These are the basic colors you need to create the other colors on the color wheel. The secondary colors are those you get by mixing two of the primaries together. The tertiary colors are those you get by mixing the primary color with the secondary color that's on either side of it.)

(Also, the tertiary colors usually have different names in everyday language (like magenta, indigo, or turquoise). But I'm coming from a painter's perspective when naming the tertiary colors because this was how I learned how to identify hues and mix them properly.)

With that sorted, let's dive into the different color harmonies.

Analogous Color Scheme

These colors are inherently harmonious because they share the same space on the color wheel and reflect similar light waves.

Usually, they include 3 colors, but a 4th and 5th could potentially work as well.

If you think of the color wheel as a cake, the analogous colors are all included in a small/mid slice of it. They are all next to each other.

An example could be purple, blue-purple, and blue since these 3 colors are right next to each other on the color wheel.

The analogous color scheme is often used with characters that are color-coded with a secondary (or tertiary) color. Secondary (and tertiary) colors are more difficult to distinguish than primary colors since they're produced by mixing at least two other colors. So, there is always more than one color at play in the secondary (and tertiary) ones.

This is why we often see, for example, orange color-coded characters in QLs use a spectrum of orange where they sometimes verge towards yellow and/or red.

But, this color scheme can be used in the set design as well, as it was in the background in this scene from House of Stars:

There's yellow, orange, and red (which incorporates a spectrum of 5 colors on the color wheel), and makes an analogous color scheme. There's some pink in there as well, which, if we want to be basic, is pretty much just a light red (red mixed with white). (There's also some green, which is a complementary color to red, but I'll get to that below.)

Monochromatic Color Scheme

This color scheme is basically several values (dark/light) of the same color.

A simple way to think about it is to think about a black-and-white photo. There's everything in there from black to the gray midtones to white.

Or this frame from Bed Friend:

If we just focus on the white-to-black color spectrum, there's the white of the lampshade and Uea's shirt, the gray on the wall, the gray of Uea's pants, the darker gray/black on the headboard and King's shirt, and the black of the nightstand.

If another color was used, the black would still be black and the white would be white, but the midtones in between would be different values of the color of choice (for example purple, blue, or green).

Obviously, it doesn't have to go all the way to the ends of the spectrum (to the black and the white) to create color harmony. Using the midtones also works well, like these harmonious blues in Ji's bedroom in To Be Continued:

(I know this might look gray to a lot of people. But, trust me, there's blue in there.)

Complementary/Contrasting Color Scheme

I've already written about complementary/contrasting colors before, so I won't explain it in detail in this post. However, the core principle is that the complementary colors sit on the opposite sides of the color wheel.

The basic (primary + secondary) examples are:

Yellow + purple

Red + green

Blue + orange

And we also have black/white (or dark/light).

I would say that this is the most commonly used color harmony in the QLs I've watched. It's an easy way to make the colors stand out, it's a great way to show contrasts in characters, but it's also very easily and universally used with the black and white, dark and light contrasts in particular.

There are a lot of options to choose from when it comes to the black and white contrasts, but I'm choosing Lee Hyun and Kim An in Love Class Season 2 because their lives and personalities contrast just as much as their black and white colors.

I also want to add Chen Yi and Ai Di from Kiseki: Dear to Me who are matching each other:

It's a bonus that they're matching on all three colors (black, white, and red).

If I were to choose two of the colors from the color wheel and a QL that used them well, I would choose red and green and I Told Sunset About You:

They used these contrasting/complementary colors everywhere and it was so well done that everything from the set design to the characters was unforgettable. It was divine.

Split Complementary Color Scheme

This is also a way to use color on the opposite side of the color wheel. But, instead of the complete opposite, you select the two colors adjacent to the complement.

Instead of yellow being used with purple, yellow is used with red-purple and blue-purple, or purple is used with yellow-green and yellow-orange.

This is where we get into complicated territory, especially when trying to find examples of this in QLs. I don't think this is used very much (I can't remember having seen a representation of this) because sticking to the primary and secondary colors is easier.

Tertiary colors are used (I would say they're used more as a hue of a secondary or primary color, like I mentioned with orange in the part about the analogous color scheme above, rather than a color on its own) but are difficult to distinguish from the primary and secondary colors that produce them.

Every split complementary combination includes at least one tertiary color, so this might be why this color harmony isn't used as often in QLs.

If you have any examples, feel free to share them.

Triadic Color Scheme

I've already written about the triadic color scheme before, so I won't explain it in detail here. However, the core principle is that this color scheme is depicted with a triangle (there are two examples in the image of the color wheel above). Each point of the triangle points to a color that harmonizes with the other two.

The basic examples are:

The 3 primary colors together (yellow, red, and blue)

The 3 secondary colors together (orange, purple, and green)

An example of this can be Ji's bedroom in To Be Continued (the image I showed above), where there are yellow candles on the nightstands, a red balloon dog to the left (I can't really see if this is a Jeff Koons' figurine, but I doubt it), and the blue surrounding them (as well as their clothes).

There's also the living room in Knock Knock, Boys!, which includes the yellow, red, and blue (I love how all three of those colors pop):

But there are also the secondary colors in combination:

The orange pillow and posters, the purple light in the background to the right, and the green beer bottles. This is just another reason for me to absolutely love this series.

And then there's Secret Crush on You who wants to have all the primary and secondary colors in one frame at the same time (considering this is a colorful show, I'm not surprised):

The yellow, red-ish, and blue straws, the red backpack, the blue on Toh's shirt and the pillow behind Nuea, the orange on Nuea's clothes, the purple on Toh's shirt, and the green on Toh's shirt as well as the plants behind them.

And in this frame:

Where all three primary and all three secondary colors exist on those condom packages. Iconic!

And what a way to finish off this post, lol.