Color temperature describes whether a hue appears warm or cool in relation to other colors.
Warm colors are generally associated with yellow, orange, red, and magenta, while cool colors are associated with blue, green, and violet. But this is simplistic thinking and doesn’t really help us choose and use better colors.
Temperature is relative. A red can appear warm when it has the feeling of orange in it or cool when it leans toward violet.
For this reason, in my classes at ColorWonk.com, I have students think “warm-er” and “cool-er” because every red is always warmer than some reds while cooler than others. The same warmer/cooler effect happens with every color, not just red.
Comparing similar colors side by side helps us see their warm or cool flavor but it still takes practice and experience to trust your eyes.
Temperature is not the same as value or saturation. A color can be light, dark, vivid, or muted regardless of whether it appears warm or cool.
In colored pencil, understanding temperature helps us select colors for shading, highlighting, to create a sense of distance, and when inventing pleasing color palettes.
