One of the biggest turning points in my coloured pencil journey wasn’t buying more pencils. It was learning how the colours I already owned worked together.

Once you understand colour relationships, choosing colours becomes much more intuitive. Instead of relying on someone else’s pencil list, you start making your own decisions with confidence. That’s when drawing becomes so much more enjoyable because you’re no longer second-guessing every colour choice.

And that’s exactly why I love using a colour wheel.

Why use a colour wheel?

When people hear the words “colour theory”, they often imagine pages of complicated diagrams, technical terms and rules to memorise.

If I’m honest… It fills me with dread! I like to keep things simple.

For me, a colour wheel isn’t about learning lots of complicated theories. It’s simply a practical tool that helps me answer questions while I’m drawing.

Questions like:

• Which colours create beautiful, rich shadows?
• Which colours naturally work well together?
• How can I make my subject look more vibrant and realistic?

Once you start looking at colour this way, you’ll find yourself making much more confident decisions.

Create your own colour wheel

You can absolutely buy a colour wheel, but I actually recommend making your own.

Why? Because you’re using the exact pencils you already own.

As you colour each section, you’re becoming familiar with your own colours and how they look on paper. It also gives you a handy reference you can keep beside your drawing board whenever you’re working.

Your colour wheel doesn’t need to be complicated.

Simply divide a circle into sections and fill them with your main colours:

• Red
• Red-orange
• Orange
• Yellow-orange
• Yellow
• Yellow-green
• Green
• Blue-green
• Blue
• Blue-violet
• Violet
• Red-violet

The goal isn’t perfection. It’s creating something practical that you’ll actually use.

Think about relationships, not rules

This is probably the biggest shift I’d encourage you to make.

Instead of worrying about all the terminology behind colour theory, think about colour relationships.

The colours opposite each other on the wheel are called complementary colours.

These can create wonderful contrast and beautiful, rich shadows.

For example:

• Red and green work beautifully together.
• Yellow and violet create lovely depth.
• Orange and blue are complementary colours too.

However, this is where experience comes in.

If you’re drawing something orange, adding a pure blue shadow can sometimes create a slightly green appearance because orange already contains yellow.

Instead, I often move slightly around the wheel and use a blue-violet or violet instead. It still creates a rich shadow but keeps the colour looking much more natural.

That’s why I treat my colour wheel as a guide rather than a strict set of rules.

Build confidence with the pencils you already own

One of the biggest misconceptions in coloured pencil is believing you need more pencils before you can improve.

In reality, understanding your colours is far more valuable than owning hundreds of them.

When you become familiar with colour relationships, you’ll naturally begin to:

• Choose colours more confidently.
• Create richer shadows.
• Add more depth to your drawings.
• Make your subjects look more vibrant.
• Develop your own artistic style.

And perhaps most importantly, you’ll become less dependent on following someone else’s colour recipes.

Keep experimenting

One of my favourite things about coloured pencils is that there isn’t just one right answer.

Sometimes the colour you expect to work doesn’t. Sometimes a completely unexpected combination creates something beautiful. That’s why I always encourage people to experiment.

Try different colour combinations.

Layer colours you wouldn’t normally put together.

See what happens.

Your colour wheel is there to inspire ideas, not limit them. The more you use it, the more you’ll begin to trust your own eyes.

And that’s a wonderful place to reach as an artist.