Another color theory note...

One of the most useful things I learned when studying various aspects of color theory was the one of 'color extension' as explained by Johannes Itten. It will stand you in good stead as a designer or decorator if you are inclined that way. The 'extension' theory goes like this: In order to have a balanced composition, you need to think about the 'visual weight' each color carries. In the simplest comparison, take a color wheel containing the primaries and secondaries. Yellow carries the most weight, followed by orange, red, green, blue and violet. An example: it takes 3 parts violet to balance 1 part of yellow.

CAVEAT: Color theory ain't rocket science!

I agree that color extension is a great idea, HOWEVER.....

Extension means one color is 'extended' over a larger area, another color is 'extended' over a much smaller area. It's a form of color contrast. This as one of Itten's six or seven forms of contrast is excellent for any artist.

Itten went wacko with his theories of what color has 'visual weight' and what colors create psychological feelings in viewers. I urge every artist to disregard this sort of stuff. Yellow does not carry most weight. That is complete bunk and in certain color combinations it could carry the least weight.

Furthermore, there is no such thing anymore as a balanced composition that accords to any global rules. Balance is when it fits your personal idea of balance or completenes..

Color extension is that

If you put a spot or two with bright yellow - or often also red - in a painting these colors will draw attention whatever other colors there are in the painting.

unless your painting is full of red and yellow already, read above post...

If you want to learn color theory which is useful for artists study Munsell or RGB on the computer. It can be learned in a short time and applied to paint unlike most other color theories and you won't need to rely on silly statements about feelings, weight and attention.

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The 'extension' theory goes

An example: it takes 3 parts violet

If it turns out that the light value in a picture is a light blue made of cobalt blue plus white turns out to be very strong. It can be grayed down by adding a bit of the adjoining color(s). But the light blue is also necessary to balance the dark value, which is either a wine red or perhaps a medium scarlet (scarlet plus white). In any case, colors that, for whatever reason seem to glare out in the picture need to be either reduced in real estate they occupy or diluted down.

I think it has more to do with the other colors in the painting. I am working with medium beiges (mars violet plus white) and browns (red iron oxide) and a raw siena wash over white. Then I added light blue. I tried phthalo blue, ultramarine, then cobalt all with white. All glared out strongly. I chose the cobalt because it seemed to blend the best with the least glare. Here is a case of ordinarily cool unemotional colors behaving like red or yellow.

says...

If I had to stop and consider all of this nonsense when I'm painting, I'd have given up on it years ago. Having the knowledge gives one the background to know what is or isn't working, but intellectualizing about every brushstroke would make me nuttier than I already am.

'silly feelings' about color is what i call...painting.

Both yes and no. This Itten theory claims yellow has more weight than blue and red and I believe it is the case. I tried clean yellow in a background a while ago and it takes over the whole picture if you use too much of it. But it is not more to it - I don't disagree with you about colors influencing each other.

Munsell - isn't it 'just' a classification system? Like when you are buying house- or interior paint and gives up a number to get the same hue of a certain color. Would you find Munsell used as a color system in any painting programs? (I'm not arguing - this is a pure question).