Color Schemes
Square Tetrad

Working with a Square Tetrad on your Color Wheel is similar to a Rectangular Tetrad

This time, instead of a rectangle shape, you're choosing a square of 4 colors on the Basic Color Wheel.

Because Color Wheels contain 12 Basic colors, forming a square is easy. Just choose every third Hue.

In this example our color scheme is Red, Green, Yellow/Orange and Blue/Violet. We have 1 Primary, 1 Secondary and 2 Tertiary Colors

A Square Tetrad color palette is always makes a bold statement. That's because every combination will always contain one Primary with its Complementary Secondary Color plus 2 Tertiary colors equally distant from each other.

There are only three different combinations possible as the square moves around the wheel. However, 12 versions of those three combinations can be created depending on which Hue you select as your dominant color.

Mother Color Method

This palette is very strong because each color competes for attention. Just like all color schemes on the Color Wheel, a Square Tetrad must be harmonized in some way to make them work together. Here's how the Mother Color Method works on my choice of Red, Green, Yellow/Orange and Blue/Violet.


In this example I've chosen Red as my dominant color and placed it in the middle. Pure Green, Yellow/Orange and Blue/Violet are shown on the top row.

By adding a tiny bit of Red to the 3 paint colors on the top row, you'll get some interesting results which you can see on the bottom row. If you add more red to each the colors will change even more.

Green + a little Red = Dull Khaki Green
Yellow/Orange + a little Red = Intense Orange
Blue/Violet + a little Red = Burgundy

Even though the mixtures on the bottom row no longer clash, they're still a bit challenging to balance. That intense orange will need to be used in small doses to keep from overpowering the other more subdued mixtures.

The Neutral Brown in the middle row on the right is a mixture of all four starting colors. Again there's no guesswork as to which neutral to use, because all these colors are part of a blended family.

Decorating Tips for this Color Scheme

1. Play up your dominant Mother Color in the accent pieces like art, pillows and other accessories.

2. Darken one of your altered paint colors with black and lighten another with white for interesting variations for furniture, carpets or fabrics.

3. Neutralize one of the altered Hues with gray and use it on the largest surfaces such as your walls.
Your color scheme will go beautifully together and the Mother Color will add gorgeous sparkle to the room.


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