Color Schemes
Adjacent Tetrad

Adjacent Tetrad Color Schemes use four colors on the Color Wheel.

Just like the other two types of Tetrads, a Rectangular Tetrad Color Scheme and a Square Tetrad Color Scheme, we are selecting Hues in a box shape.

This time however, there are no spaces between each two analogous pairs of colors.

Notice that when you chose the pairs of colors right across from each other to form an imaginary rectangle, you've automatically selected two pairs of Complementary Colors.

In my Color Wheel example, I've chosen
Green
Yellow/Green
Red
Red/Violet

Remember to proceed with caution when mixing these double complements because Complementary Hues cancel each other out. These paint colors will get muddy brown very quickly with too much mixing.

Use Adjacent Tetrad Color Schemes when you want drama and strong temperature contrast.

Mixing Colors



Going from the Color Wheel Theory to the actual paint mixtures Green is the Mother Color. The other three starting Hues are on the top row. Of course you have the option of choosing ant of the other three as your Mother Color. This would give you entirely different paint mixtures.

In this example, Green is the direct Complementary of Red. Because Red/Violet contains Red, it is also toned down by the Green in very similar ways. But Yellow/Green is adjacent to Green to it get intensified by adding the Green Mother Color.

Be careful to add only the tiniest amount of the Green to each of the opposite Reds. Otherwise they will both look Brown. The Neutral Brown to the right of the Green is a mixture of all four colors.

Tone down the Green a little bit to create a dash of bright contrast without being overly bright. For a more neutralized accent, add the tiniest amount of its Complementary Red. For a brighter Green accent, add a tiny amount of its Near Complementary Red/Violet.

And of course you can extend your range of paint colors even further by adding different amounts of White, Black or Gray to tint, shade or tone down the colors even more.

Color Scheme Tips

1. Adjacent Tetrad color schemes work best if you make one of the adjacent pairs more dominant by using them and their variations in about 75% of the space.

2. Avoid adding too much of each Complementary color or your paint mixtures will be dull.

3. Use different brightness intensities of your mixtures plus the neutral mixture of the four colors. Change the way they look by adding white to lighten for pastels or black to darken to shades and tones.

4. For contrasting focal points and accents such as pillows and art, choose variations of the non-dominant colors which will most likely be the Complements.

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