https://joedrumgoole.com/blog/2026-04-28T00:00:00+01:002026-04-28T00:00:00+01:002026-04-28T00:00:00+01:00Joe Drumgooletag:joedrumgoole.com,2026-04-28:/blog/colour-wheel-for-oil-painters.html

<p>An interactive RYB colour wheel for picking complements when desaturating oil paint, with pigment recommendations indexed by Colour Index code.</p>

<object data="https://joedrumgoole.com/blog/colour-wheel.svg" type="image/svg+xml" id="colour-wheel" style="width:100%;max-width:738px;height:auto;aspect-ratio:738/1070;display:block;margin:0 auto;" aria-label="Interactive RYB colour wheel for oil painters with pigment reference"> <img src="https://joedrumgoole.com/blog/colour-wheel.svg" alt="RYB colour wheel for oil painters" style="width:100%;max-width:738px;height:auto;display:block;margin:0 auto;" /> </object> <p><br></p> <h2>Understanding the Colour Wheel</h2> <p>This interactive RYB colour wheel is designed to help oil painters desaturate colours cleanly and deliberately. Click on any colour segment to reveal its complement — the colour directly opposite on the wheel.</p> <p>The three concentric rings show what happens as you progressively add that complement to your base colour. The outer ring is the pure colour, the middle ring shows it mixed with approximately 25% of its complement, and the inner ring shows 55%. This is how professional painters knock back an over-saturated colour without reaching for grey or white.</p> <p>The panel below the wheel shows the desaturation gradient in fine steps, along with four reference swatches at useful mixing ratios. All hex values are shown for digital reference.</p> <p>The pigment section lists the most commonly used oil pigments for each colour, along with their <strong>Colour Index code</strong> — the international standard printed on every tube regardless of brand. If a tube says <strong>PR108</strong>, it's Cadmium Red; if it says <strong>PB29</strong>, it's Ultramarine Blue — no matter what the manufacturer calls it on the label.</p> <p>Each pigment is marked <strong>warm</strong> or <strong>cool</strong>, because two pigments that share the same name can behave very differently at the mixing table. A warm blue like Ultramarine will produce a very different neutral when mixed with a warm red like Cadmium Red than a cool blue like Phthalo would. The opacity symbol indicates whether the pigment is transparent (○), semi-transparent (◑), or opaque (●), which matters when glazing or working wet into wet.</p> <p>Click anywhere on the background to return to the full wheel.</p>