Red .:. Green

This pair is the first of the complimentary colour pairs we have visited so far .:. Red and Green.

According to Johannes Itten in his extensive colour studies: We call two colours complimentary if their pigments, mixed together, yield a neutral gray-black. Two such colours make a strange pair. They are opposite, and they require each other. They incite each other to maximum vividness when adjacent; and they annhilate each other when mixed - like fire and water. -The Elements of Colour by Johannes Itten

Red and green .:. opposites on the colour wheel, each of them with their diverse palettes. When we pair colours while working on a design project, we combine colours to create a "mood", a feeling, even a sentiment. In pairing red and green there is an assertiveness, a command that cannot be ignored: "look at me!" Think about combining a spring green with a deep cranberry, or a jade green with a fiery orange-red, or a sage green with a cherry red, I could list endless combinations here, they all create provocative and powerful combinations.

In this culture, many people associate this red .:. green colour combination with Christmas. The green trees, and wreaths paired with the red decorations and berries. The advertising and publishing industries have kept this association alive with ad campaigns, and christmas stories and holiday cards, all illustrating this complimentary colour combination.

Red and green are probably the easiest pair of complementary colours to work with. Even at their most intense, these colours are similar in value. Because they are neither the warmest nor the coolest of colours, they don't react as strongly with each other as warmer or cooler colours would. –Colorworks: The Crafter's Guide to Colour by Deb Menz

So as you work on ideas for your next painting, or a new design for a client, a new card design for your line, or a weaving pattern - whatever your medium - think a bit about how the colours we reach for in our daily creative lives interact with each other.

Perhaps try starting a new piece and consciously incorporate these 2 complementary colours: Red.:.Green. What are the surprises that you find? What are the new ways in which you see these colours? Will you think of this pair differently, look more closely for the varying moods you can create with these 2 colours?

Please visit the Red.:.Green Mosaic at the Living Colours group on Flickr, and enjoy some of the work these artists have created with the Red.:.Green complements.