What are Warm and Cool Colors in Art? (Easy Explanation!)

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Has this video helped you to be a little clearer about the basics of warm and cool colours?

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

I am sure you are not. Remember every single person sees colour differently. I you are also viewing through the lighting I have in the studio, the camera and the particular screen you have on your device. All of this can mean that what I see when I paint, may be different to what you see.

[@beverlyrodriguez9870]

Very helpful. Now I understand how I need to swatch all my colors. I plan to test myself after viewing this video I really want to understand mixing better. I have loved your mixing videos as well as this one. It's past time for me to go back to basics as yo mentioned in one of your videos on common mistakes I was trying to paint full landscapes without understanding the basics. Thank you so much!

[@danielsutton2290]

Yes!

[@danielsutton2290]

Michele is one of the most witty, intelligent, broadly informed and instructive KZbin watercolorists there is. As a physician who likes humor and with a strong background in biology especially taxonomy (species relatedness), she always knocks me off my feet with her accuracy in things of the nonart biological nature. She had me at cats are “obligate carnivores” and, in another video, can’t remember which, (paraphrased) “playing Celine Dion over a loud speaker heard by neighbors should be illegal.” Additionally, I did not know that cats can’t taste sweetness! Thank you Ms. Webber! I’m a huge fan. 🎉❤

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Aw thanks :-)

[@teresamitchell-banks2286]

This is the only tutorial on cool and warm colours that has made sense to me. Thank you🇨🇦

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

That was my hope when making it!

[@smz5302]

SO helpful, Michele. And thanks for not referring to a color wheel. Every video I've watched thus far has referred to a color wheel to explain warm and cool colors. And, for the life of me, I can't keep it in my head. Your video may do the trick. Thanks, thanks.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

So glad!

[@mimitovar7335]

All of my years in art university I have never studied or understood color in this way. In fact, color theory was never taught or even mentioned. They never used the words "warm" or "cool" but instead used the terms "bright" "strong" "dull" "translucent" to describe the character of the color. I have learned a year's worth of art school in your 25-minute video. Thank you so much for not assuming that everyone who is subscribed to your channel is a professional artist. Thank you for taking the time to explain things, and not jamming all this information in a 6-minute video. I really appreciate your channel so much, especially your watercolor techniques and tutorials! I hope you'll consider getting a bit more technical with light and shadow, perspective, and compositional watercolor paintings. It is very clear that you can articulate these things in such simple ways for the layperson such myself! I will totally recommend your channel to any artist (novice or expert).

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Thanks so much Mimi, I have been teaching for many years, although privately, not in schools. Formal art education varies hugely from what I have seen, from excellent to awful!

[@mimitovar7335]

@@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber I think your career on teaching art privately has proven to be more successful and beneficial to both the teacher and students. And now sharing your wisdom through social media has been even more of a blessing as now you have students from all over the world! ^_^ Thank you Ms. Webber

[@jakea1035]

Three years along and this is still the very best explanation of colours that I have ever seen. Thank you,

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Glad it's helpful!

[@brendadavies3942]

This is the best explanation of cool and a dark colours I have seen so thank you for unraveling my brain

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Glad it was helpful Brenda :-)

[@lizzy9975]

This is probably one of the best colour theory tutorials around! Really well done!

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Glad you think so! Thank you!

[@anitadavidson1266]

I think you’ve finally managed to get this theory into my thick head, thank you!

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

lol, we all have stuff we are thick at - with me it's maths! Luckily we all have stuff we are good at too :-)

[@MaryGadsby]

As a beginner at 60 your videos are helping me so much! Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

I'm so glad! You are very young. One of my students started with me at age 87 :-) (and I am only a few years behind you!)

[@johnfranco8637]

Best explanation ever in my entire artistic career

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Wow, thank you!

[@debraevans8654]

Thank you for always keeping it simple for us beginners without making us feel stupid. Appreciate all that you do to teach us!

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

You are so welcome!

[@barbarachappuis766]

Thank you, Michelle. You're so meticulous, thorough, and patient. I think you really nailed it when you stated that warmness and coolness are relative (and subjective). It took time, practice, and thought to really start to get it.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

That's good, I am please I helped a little.

[@teresamitchell-banks2286]

This is a truly sensible way to teach colour theory

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Thank you!

[@pagalmasala]

Hello Michele! I'm still a big fan. I keep your videos on because your voice is comforting and inspiring while watching when I don't feel well.....

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Aw thanks, I hope you feel well as often as possible :-)

[@aliciashackley5830]

I’m so thankful for this video because I’m very new to art/watercolor and was always list when teams like green or red were added to let’s say a blue color. Lol. I was totally confused. But now I see how lemon yellow is cool (in the yellow range) and a certain orange could be considered cool too because it’s more acidic. So once again I’m do grateful to your kind sharing of your knowledge. You’re wonderful. 🥰

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Thanks Alicia, sorry didn't see your comment at first, KZbin had put you in a folder called 'Likely Spam' (!) But I fished you out again :-)

[@therojo6902]

Such a simple and understandable explanation of warm and cool colors.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Thank you!

[@raybeaumont7670]

Great explanation Michele - clear and easy to understand. Thanks very much!

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

You're very welcome Ray!

[@camamaja]

thanks for making it easy to understand. Great explanation I keep coming back to whenever someone else muddies the water for me.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Great to hear!

[@shaf7643]

Just starting to get into watercolour, and your videos have been clear, succinct and extremely helpful. You have a great way of explaining things simply with simultaneous demo’s.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Thanks Mohammed, good luck with your paintings!

[@evelyne7071]

Thank you, again. After a little more painting experience, I’ve come to appreciate the differences between the warms and cools. However, it is always good to get your perspective and refresher. Even with all other watercolor tutorials, I always like to come back to yours because of your obvious talents as a teacher. Your explanations are concise and understandable.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Wonderful!

[@jadewytch2335]

This explained so much of what I - sort of knew - as a child but could never explain properly! I am struggling with the difference in red blues versus green blues; but what I'm doing thus far is comparing something to Ultramarine and using that as a basis for judging the red and using a turquoise to compare with the greens. There's just so much to learn here. I studied music at university and spent a lot of time on theory; so I understand why color theory is so important in compositions; I had just never considered how complex it could be. :) I appreciate your teaching style, Michele.

[@sheidashannon9210]

What a great lesson on warm and cool colors. Thank you so much!

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Glad it was helpful!

[@wallen308]

Thank you! I've watched colour wheel videos but this has helped me understand the differences in warm and cool (finally). I was starting to think I was thick as a brick (a warm brick)!

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Warm brick 😂

[@OneTrueWord1988]

Hi Michele! Even though I understand the concept of warm and cool colors, this was such an interesting and thorough video, and I enjoyed it very much. You always take such care to explain things so completely, and in a way that's easy to understand. Excellent video! Thank you!

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Yay, thank you!

[@OneTrueWord1988]

In the Studio with Michele Webber: 😊👍😻💐👏🏻

[@gorway7]

Loved how you tackled this hot topic which can be most contentious. You are the first person I have heard to tackle this from a "relative and perceptual perspective" which makes sense to an artist. Although the colour wheel is a great tool, it can be an obstacle when you take the colour spectrum which is liner and try and wrap it into a circle. I have always had a problem with the blues, especially things like cerulean and cobalt turquoise which many describe as cool but for me have such strong emotional links to warm tropical waters and sunny skies.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Thanks Peter, it's funny, artists will describe the green blues as cool, and yet the fashion industry describes them as warm :-)

[@FknNefFy]

Thank you! That was the best and easiest explanation ever!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@awhalewatcher]

Thanks Michelle. Colours really do my head in, but with the help of your tutorials it’s becoming less muddy! Great job!

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Happy to help!

[@leslie-annepepin8927]

I have always been confused about warm vs cool colours. Thank you!

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Happy to help!

[@kamalsodhi5771]

Beautifully explained and presented in the most simple language. Always greatly appreciate your videos as they provide great learning & practical lessons for artists.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

My pleasure!

[@clairegreenslade8329]

So brilliantly explained. I finally get it 🎉

[@voliabrandaolaveneremachad7849]

Thanks for the great explanation!

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

My pleasure!

[@kennyiklei]

Thank you, Michele. Very clear tutorial. 😊

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

You’re welcome 😊

[@georgyevans]

Great video, Michele. Thank you! Sitting in my garden looking at flowers with a different perspective. The swatching in this way was particularly helpful.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Glad it was helpful!

[@TimRoseOfficial]

*_Great explanation Michele! Love what you're doing and congrats on the channel you've built up so far! Keep it up my friend!_* 💙

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Thank you for watching ☺️

[@richardlevasseur6771]

This is great! Here I appreciated the discussion on the purples and violets. I love working with Payne's Gray and havent thought to add yellow, but I will try that today. I am still referencing the video for mixing greens. Also, practicing from the Clouds video (need a lot of practice and confidence here). As you can probably tell, I am a newbee!

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Thanks Richard! Add pink to Payne's grey and get a lovely storm cloud colour 🙂

[@jackielubeck5277]

Hi Michelle - this is a very helpful video. I'm surprised it's so simple. Thx so much. Jackie

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Glad you liked it!!

[@evelyne7071]

Very helpful ! Thank you

[@michaelbeckett7656]

i am partially red/green color blind so a lot of my color choices HAVE to be based on color theory. i can often see where the color is 'off', but i am at a loss to figure out why. the concept of warm and cool blue has always felt strange to me. i had never thought of the fact that blue was the lone cool primary. your explanation is so much clearer! thank you!

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

No problem Michael, I have taught many men who are color blind, it's genetic. The thing to remember is that colors are the sum of their parts, by which I mean you can't mix two warm colors and get a cool color. I have simplified for this video, if you want a warm green for example, not only should it have a yellow bias but ideally you want to use a warm yellow.

[@annwong1946]

This is such an informative tutorial. I have been struggling to understand and have difficultly in identifying the warm and cool colours. You made it so much easier and it finally it make sense. Going to try swatching and mixing again. Thank you so much.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Glad it was helpful!

[@HemuArtWorld]

Information is awesome and great upload 👍

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@miriammolloy5900]

Thanks Michelle that was a really interesting colour mix lesson.

[@AkuZeku]

I always wondered about that warm/cold colours people were talking about and this video just got recommended to me. It's super helpful! I think I understand this a lot better now. Thank you for this video!

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

No problem!

[@MerrrryBeth]

Thank you!!😘 This is so helpful!

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

I'm so glad!

[@DavidStockford]

Just bought my first watercolour set (Windsor & Newton Cotman). Now I understand why it has the colours it has. Thank you

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

You are welcome David!

[@DavidStockford]

I have been watching your videos for a month now. I like your teaching style. Now looking at your courses.

[@lifeinpostwarbritain]

Lots here to take in but it is comprehensive and well explained. Hopefully, Michele will follow this with a video on uses for each warm and cool colour

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Thank you :-)

[@evelyne7071]

This video is so excellent. I learned so much, especially about color mixing, Thank you, as always.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

That's fab!

[@melaniebaynes2730]

Thanks for doing this tutorial Michele, as usual it is extremely helpful! I have saved it so I can refer back if I need to. I think you are very kind for sharing all these videos, you make learning fun🤗😊.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

You are so welcome - art should be fun!

[@annettefournier9655]

Thanks Michele. Excellent lesson.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

You're very welcome Annette!

[@SharonH11100]

This was very helpful to me ~ not purely scientific, but logical ~ thank you! 🙋🏼‍♀️

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Glad you liked it Sharon 🙂

[@brownsauce30]

Great indepth lecture Michelle. Thanks

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

You're very welcome!

[@DeborahHillman-gr8uo]

Thank you for this video. I needed it so much! This was great!

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Glad it was helpful!

[@carolshappyplace5828]

Excellent video - I especially appreciated the discussion of warm and cool oranges and browns, and also how manufacturers designate blues. This video also confirmed the importance if having both warm and cool colors in my palate which as a beginner I’m finding to be very useful in mixing. And you demonstrated the warm/cool greens in your outfit too - fun!

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Totally on purpose 😂

[@linesymons9488]

Great description! Easy to understand although complexe. Thank you!

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

You're very welcome!

[@debrabartman6749]

Very helpful information. Thank you for the video.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

You are welcome!

[@evasternbauer6145]

Oh dear, more confused than ever ;-) I do get your reasoning and the theory. Is it by mixing you really understand if they are cool or warm, if you just cant tell by watching? I will watch again in the morning when my head is clearer 🙂 Really good video though! Your earrings make your eyes very green!

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Thank you! The thing to remember is that the very concept of 'warm' and 'cool' is simply a way that humans find useful in describing colors. Colors don't actually have a temperature. Warm and cool are also relative. A color could be warm, but cool compared to an even warmer color. At the end of the day as long as you can choose, select and use the colors you want then that's all that matters.

[@evasternbauer6145]

@@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber Thank you

[@kendataylor6386]

Really helpful - thank you!

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

You're welcome!

[@raggedyroad]

Wnderful lesson. Thank you!

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Glad you liked it!

[@janedoe1790]

So precise thanks 🌻🐝✨✨✨✨

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

You’re welcome 😊

[@mariewhytsell4624]

Thanks!

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Thank you so much, I appreciate it!

[@MJSTAMAND]

Keep up the good work.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Thanks, will do!

[@FeathPymArt]

Very informative! I kept up well through the primaries, but when we hit the secondaries, I had a bit more trouble. I can understand what you're saying, but when I look at them, I still don't see the cool/hot. Think I'll watch this a couple more times! *takes notes*

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

There is more to it than I have put in the video but I wanted to keep it simple. For example a warm green would not only have a bias towards yellow but typically that would be a warm yellow.

[@FeathPymArt]

@@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber Of course :) (I actually understood that.)

[@smchalk3535]

easy explanation, did not know that about green.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Me neither until recently!

[@martynsmith630]

Hi Michelle Phthalo blues usually have a colon with it to denote red or green shade. What about when it says just PB15. Also is Indanthrone cool or warm. Your channel is a great watch. Thanks.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Idanthrone is a red leaning blue, if that is what you consider warm. There's not really warm and cool with blue because either direction you have warm colours (red and yellow/green). PB15 simply means the manufacturer doesn't want to disclose the exact type of pigment.

[@pollysmith2710]

So being a complete beginner im taking the warm colours to mix with PR122 or PV 19 to be Indanthrone, Ultramarine & Phthalo Blue RS, is that correct.

[@tammysunderman4734]

thank you Michelle for all the wonderful tutorials. I've got a palette of senniler paints, what other brands could be used with the Sennliers?

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Hi Tammy, thanks for watching! You can use literally any other brand, they are all interchangeable. I would start with colours you have but don't necessarily like that much, or suspect that might be nicer in other brands. Then think about where there might be 'gaps' in the colours you have, ones that are missing perhaps.

[@MaisnerProductions]

super helpful

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Glad you think so!

[@sofar_sogud4929]

The retinas in our eyes have receptors for red, green and blue only.

[@liamwatson5125]

Orange seems to be a warm colour altogether because it’s in between red and yellow. When I mixed ultramarine with warm red, I got grey instead of purple.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

Yes that's because of the yellow element in the warm red. 3 primarys heavy on the blue = grey.

[@deborahruth5072]

I am going to have to watch this a few more times. I understand the logic behind it but that is not how I perceive color. I don't know why that is. It is really hard for me to get my mind wrapped around it. lol I am both logical and artistic. I am told I think with both sides of my brain but, that has not always served me well.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

At the end of the day, it's only the common perception, everyone's brain sees colour a little differently!

[@cvb123ist]

I am less confused about warm and cool colors, Thanks.

[@deborahruth5072]

@@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber thanks for that and thank you for the video. Coming from a mixed media background I just like what I like. It is more intuitive than anything else.

[@tracypowell2459]

Really useful video, than you.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

You are welcome Tracy!

[@mariewhytsell4624]

Good instructions, as usual. Unfortunately, I still don't get it when I look at an ostracized blue.😂

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

In that system, egyptian blue would be your warm and turquoise your cool :-)

[@KMiller63]

❤

[@MrApolloTom]

6:13 I suspect this is part of the reason bright tube greens looks so bad unmixed, they reflect a green that can't be obtained from the implied lighting in the scene, so it looks like it doesn't belong in there or like some kind of glowing Simpsons nuclear waste.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

I think I have seen that episode :-)

[@grandma.p]

I only have red, yellow and blue gouache and I have mixed a lot from them. However, you waste a lot of paint only working with a few colors and mixing them.

[@IntheStudiowithMicheleWebber]

That's true :-)