Meet the Primary Colors

There are three very special colors called primary colors. They are red, yellow, and blue. What makes them so special? You cannot make them by mixing other colors together! They are the starting colors for everything else.

Think about it: you can mix colors to make orange or green, but no matter what you mix, you cannot create red from other colors. The same is true for yellow and blue. That is why we call them primary, which means first or most important.

Artists have known about primary colors for hundreds of years. Every painting you have ever seen started with these three colors (plus black and white). When you learn to use primary colors, you unlock the secret to making almost any color you can imagine!