Page:A complete course in dressmaking, (Vol. 1, Introduction) (IA completecoursein01cono).pdf/70

 this case instead of learning that two times two makes four, you learn where the colors are placed in a color wheel and their relation to one another. See Fig. (26). To tell the truth, the rules are easier to remember than lots of the things we had to memorize back in the grades.

It's just as important for the person planning a dress to know these rules as it is for the artist planning a painting. Both are planning a composition in color. If you know the rules, you won't make a bad color composition. There won't be any jarring notes in your costume. You won't have that element of doubt as to whether you ought to add a certain color note.

The Color Wheel—For convenience sake, when an artist is studying color composition, the colors are placed on what is called a color wheel. See Fig. (26). The wheel is a circle divided into parts, and a color painted on each part or the name of it written there. There are rules regarding the placing of the colors on the wheel, and laws regarding the relation of one color to the other. Colors have certain definite effects on one another when placed close together or overlapped.

Sometimes only the primary colors of the spectrum, red, green and violet are placed on the wheel. However, for dress designing, it is more practical to include the in-between shade as in Fig. (26).