64 palettes

Color Triads: Every Triadic Scheme on the Wheel

Press the button for one triad: three colors a third of the wheel apart, as swatches with hex codes.

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Orange, green and violet, all mutedAll grayed down, so none shouts. Give orange the most room, green less and violet the least.#B88151 · #7DA17D · #8A5C99

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All 64 palettes

Primary triad 16

Blue with pale red and pale yellow Blue at full strength takes the most room. Pale red and pale yellow are the quiet colors around it.
Deep blue with pale red and pale yellow Deep blue takes the most room and is the dark. Pale red and pale yellow are the lights.
Deep red with pale yellow and pale blue Deep red takes the most room and is the dark. Pale yellow and pale blue are the lights.
Deep yellow with pale blue and pale red Deep yellow takes the most room and is the dark. Pale blue and pale red are the lights.
Muted blue with red and yellow Muted blue fills the large shapes. Red and yellow at full strength are the small, bright accents.
Muted red with yellow and blue Muted red fills the large shapes. Yellow and blue at full strength are the small, bright accents.
Muted yellow with blue and red Muted yellow fills the large shapes. Blue and red at full strength are the small, bright accents.
Pale blue with deep red and deep yellow Pale blue is the light ground. Deep red and deep yellow share the shapes and are the darks.

Show all 64 palettes (56 more)

Primary triad, continued

Pale red with deep yellow and deep blue Pale red is the light ground. Deep yellow and deep blue share the shapes and are the darks.
Pale yellow with deep blue and deep red Pale yellow is the light ground. Deep blue and deep red share the shapes and are the darks.
Red with pale yellow and pale blue Red at full strength takes the most room. Pale yellow and pale blue are the quiet colors around it.
Red, yellow and blue, all at full strength Evenly spaced, so none leads by nature. Give red the most room, yellow less and blue the least.
Red, yellow and blue, all deep All deep: a dark, heavy set. Give red the most room, yellow less and blue the least.
Red, yellow and blue, all muted All grayed down, so none shouts. Give red the most room, yellow less and blue the least.
Red, yellow and blue, all pale All pale, so nothing here is dark. Give red the most room, yellow less and blue the least.
Yellow with pale blue and pale red Yellow at full strength takes the most room. Pale blue and pale red are the quiet colors around it.

Secondary triad 16

Deep green with pale violet and pale orange Deep green takes the most room and is the dark. Pale violet and pale orange are the lights.
Deep orange with pale green and pale violet Deep orange takes the most room and is the dark. Pale green and pale violet are the lights.
Deep violet with pale orange and pale green Deep violet takes the most room and is the dark. Pale orange and pale green are the lights.
Green with pale violet and pale orange Green at full strength takes the most room. Pale violet and pale orange are the quiet colors around it.
Muted green with violet and orange Muted green fills the large shapes. Violet and orange at full strength are the small, bright accents.
Muted orange with green and violet Muted orange fills the large shapes. Green and violet at full strength are the small, bright accents.
Muted violet with orange and green Muted violet fills the large shapes. Orange and green at full strength are the small, bright accents.
Orange with pale green and pale violet Orange at full strength takes the most room. Pale green and pale violet are the quiet colors around it.
Orange, green and violet, all at full strength Evenly spaced, so none leads by nature. Give orange the most room, green less and violet the least.
Orange, green and violet, all deep All deep: a dark, heavy set. Give orange the most room, green less and violet the least.
Orange, green and violet, all muted All grayed down, so none shouts. Give orange the most room, green less and violet the least.
Orange, green and violet, all pale All pale, so nothing here is dark. Give orange the most room, green less and violet the least.
Pale green with deep violet and deep orange Pale green is the light ground. Deep violet and deep orange share the shapes and are the darks.
Pale orange with deep green and deep violet Pale orange is the light ground. Deep green and deep violet share the shapes and are the darks.
Pale violet with deep orange and deep green Pale violet is the light ground. Deep orange and deep green share the shapes and are the darks.
Violet with pale orange and pale green Violet at full strength takes the most room. Pale orange and pale green are the quiet colors around it.

Tertiary triad (red-orange) 16

Blue-violet with pale red-orange and pale yellow-green Blue-violet at full strength takes the most room. Pale red-orange and pale yellow-green are the quiet colors around it.
Deep blue-violet with pale red-orange and pale yellow-green Deep blue-violet takes the most room and is the dark. Pale red-orange and pale yellow-green are the lights.
Deep red-orange with pale yellow-green and pale blue-violet Deep red-orange takes the most room and is the dark. Pale yellow-green and pale blue-violet are the lights.
Deep yellow-green with pale blue-violet and pale red-orange Deep yellow-green takes the most room and is the dark. Pale blue-violet and pale red-orange are the lights.
Muted blue-violet with red-orange and yellow-green Muted blue-violet fills the large shapes. Red-orange and yellow-green at full strength are the small, bright accents.
Muted red-orange with yellow-green and blue-violet Muted red-orange fills the large shapes. Yellow-green and blue-violet at full strength are the small, bright accents.
Muted yellow-green with blue-violet and red-orange Muted yellow-green fills the large shapes. Blue-violet and red-orange at full strength are the small, bright accents.
Pale blue-violet with deep red-orange and deep yellow-green Pale blue-violet is the light ground. Deep red-orange and deep yellow-green share the shapes and are the darks.
Pale red-orange with deep yellow-green and deep blue-violet Pale red-orange is the light ground. Deep yellow-green and deep blue-violet share the shapes and are the darks.
Pale yellow-green with deep blue-violet and deep red-orange Pale yellow-green is the light ground. Deep blue-violet and deep red-orange share the shapes and are the darks.
Red-orange with pale yellow-green and pale blue-violet Red-orange at full strength takes the most room. Pale yellow-green and pale blue-violet are the quiet colors around it.
Red-orange, yellow-green and blue-violet, all at full strength Evenly spaced, so none leads by nature. Give red-orange the most room, yellow-green less and blue-violet the least.
Red-orange, yellow-green and blue-violet, all deep All deep: a dark, heavy set. Give red-orange the most room, yellow-green less and blue-violet the least.
Red-orange, yellow-green and blue-violet, all muted All grayed down, so none shouts. Give red-orange the most room, yellow-green less and blue-violet the least.
Red-orange, yellow-green and blue-violet, all pale All pale, so nothing here is dark. Give red-orange the most room, yellow-green less and blue-violet the least.
Yellow-green with pale blue-violet and pale red-orange Yellow-green at full strength takes the most room. Pale blue-violet and pale red-orange are the quiet colors around it.

Tertiary triad (yellow-orange) 16

Blue-green with pale red-violet and pale yellow-orange Blue-green at full strength takes the most room. Pale red-violet and pale yellow-orange are the quiet colors around it.
Deep blue-green with pale red-violet and pale yellow-orange Deep blue-green takes the most room and is the dark. Pale red-violet and pale yellow-orange are the lights.
Deep red-violet with pale yellow-orange and pale blue-green Deep red-violet takes the most room and is the dark. Pale yellow-orange and pale blue-green are the lights.
Deep yellow-orange with pale blue-green and pale red-violet Deep yellow-orange takes the most room and is the dark. Pale blue-green and pale red-violet are the lights.
Muted blue-green with red-violet and yellow-orange Muted blue-green fills the large shapes. Red-violet and yellow-orange at full strength are the small, bright accents.
Muted red-violet with yellow-orange and blue-green Muted red-violet fills the large shapes. Yellow-orange and blue-green at full strength are the small, bright accents.
Muted yellow-orange with blue-green and red-violet Muted yellow-orange fills the large shapes. Blue-green and red-violet at full strength are the small, bright accents.
Pale blue-green with deep red-violet and deep yellow-orange Pale blue-green is the light ground. Deep red-violet and deep yellow-orange share the shapes and are the darks.
Pale red-violet with deep yellow-orange and deep blue-green Pale red-violet is the light ground. Deep yellow-orange and deep blue-green share the shapes and are the darks.
Pale yellow-orange with deep blue-green and deep red-violet Pale yellow-orange is the light ground. Deep blue-green and deep red-violet share the shapes and are the darks.
Red-violet with pale yellow-orange and pale blue-green Red-violet at full strength takes the most room. Pale yellow-orange and pale blue-green are the quiet colors around it.
Yellow-orange with pale blue-green and pale red-violet Yellow-orange at full strength takes the most room. Pale blue-green and pale red-violet are the quiet colors around it.
Yellow-orange, blue-green and red-violet, all at full strength Evenly spaced, so none leads by nature. Give yellow-orange the most room, blue-green less and red-violet the least.
Yellow-orange, blue-green and red-violet, all deep All deep: a dark, heavy set. Give yellow-orange the most room, blue-green less and red-violet the least.
Yellow-orange, blue-green and red-violet, all muted All grayed down, so none shouts. Give yellow-orange the most room, blue-green less and red-violet the least.
Yellow-orange, blue-green and red-violet, all pale All pale, so nothing here is dark. Give yellow-orange the most room, blue-green less and red-violet the least.

How this list was compiled: Own work, written for Draw This Next on 2026-10-01: the four triads of the painter's twelve-hue color wheel (three hues four steps apart). Each triad is given plain at four strengths, and then with each of its three hues leading in turn at one strength while the other two keep another, so every palette is a different set of codes and none is another in a new order. The hues are worked out from places on the wheel; where a line calls a color the dark or the light of its palette, that is true of the codes shown (WCAG relative luminance). How much room each color takes is our suggestion, not a rule. Checked on 2026-10-01 against Wikipedia, Color scheme (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_scheme): a triadic scheme is a base color and the two colors 120 and 240 degrees from it; Color wheel (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_wheel): the artists' wheel has the primaries red, yellow and blue, the secondaries green, orange and violet and six tertiary colors, twelve main divisions in all; and Complementary colors (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complementary_colors): a screen makes its colors from red, green and blue light. The hex codes are the wheel table of our Art Color Challenge list, chosen for a screen; with paint or pencils, take the nearest color. Licence: own work

How it works

Color triads are sets of three colors evenly spaced around the color wheel. The painter's wheel holds four: the primary triad, the secondary triad and two tertiary triads. Each is here plain, and with each color leading in turn.

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The triads on the wheel

Red, yellow and blue are the primary triad color scheme, the plain primary colors palette. Orange, green and violet are the secondary triad. The six tertiary colors make two more: red-orange, yellow-green and blue-violet, and yellow-orange, blue-green and red-violet. A menu under the button keeps to one triad.

When one color leads

A plain triad is evenly spaced, so none of its colors leads. Each triad also comes with one color leading: full over two pale partners, deep over pale, muted under two bright accents, or pale under two deep ones. The line under the name says which takes the most room.

Questions and answers

What are the triadic colors on the color wheel?

Any three colors 120 degrees apart. On a wheel of twelve hues that is every fourth color, which gives four triads: one of the primaries, one of the secondaries and two of the tertiary colors.

Is a triadic color scheme the same on a screen?

No. A screen mixes light from red, green and blue, which form a triad of their own. The triads here come from the painter's wheel, built on red, yellow and blue, the one taught in art class.

How do you use a triadic color scheme in a drawing?

This list lets one color lead. The plain triads give the first color the most room, the second less and the third the least. The others give one color the room and keep its two partners pale, bright or deep.