Color Theory for Non-Artists Part II - Analogous Colors

I am writing a series on beginning color theory for my "other" interest, makeup.  Since it's an obvious crossover, I thought I'd post here too.  <3 Krissi  Originally posted at http://www.facebook.com/KrissisMakeup.  Click the badge in the sidebar to follow all of my makeup antics on facebook.

In February, I wrote Part I in a series on Beginning Color Theory for Non-Artists, directed primarily at the 'makeup' crowd, however, it can prove useful to just about anyone wanting to understand color combinations a bit better. In the first installment, I introduced my "color wheel" (The Wheel o' Piggiez!) and defined primary, secondary and tertiary colors.  In this installment, we're moving on to some of my favorite color combos (in painting AND in makeup), analogous colors.

Analogous colors are colors that lie next to each other in the spectrum / on the color wheel:

Analogous (or contiguous) colors in the Wheel o' Piggiez:
blue-green (Tron), green (Frankenstein and yellow-green (Acid Bath)
red (MAC ltd edition), violet/magenta (Magenta) and purple (Electric Kool Aid)
pigments by Madd Style Cosmetics except red (by MAC).

Yellow-green (Ecto Cooler), green (Zombie Crush)
and blue-green/teal (Beautiful Tragedy*)
Pigments by Madd Style Cosmetics
except for Beautiful Tragedy, by Hi-Fi Cosmetics

Analogous colors are an easy way to achieve a perfectly blended look with your colors. Since each color is made using a little bit of the next one, they really can't help but blend together.

Analogous colors in the outer edge and blended upward
(white added to inner edge):
blue (Eddie), blue-violet (Eddie/Electric Kool Aid),
Violet (Electric Kool Aid) and red-violet (Magenta)
Pigments by Madd Style Cosmetics 

You can achieve a great effect with just two analogous colors, so don't feel compelled to start off with four or five. Now go have some fun!

NEXT: Part III - Hues, Tints, Shades and Tones