Last updated September 14, 2026. By Andrew M. Tan.
Looking for a great color scheme for your miniatures? There are several ways to find the perfect paint scheme for a growing collection of Warhammer 40K, Bolt Action, or any other gray plastic waiting for paint. The same problem shows up at the hobby desk—choosing colors that work well together. Color theory gives you a practical way to choose one dominant color, find one or two supporting colors on the wheel, and check whether the scheme still reads clearly from tabletop distance.
In this article, I’ll show you how I use complementary, analogous, monochromatic, triadic, and split-complementary relationships when I paint miniatures. I still paint by feel most of the time. The wheel gives me a useful place to begin when instinct stalls. For fun, check out my miniature painting gallery to see what I do with color.
What is Color Theory?
Basically, color theory is the study of how colors interact with one another. It includes the color wheel, which is a visual tool that represents how colors relate to one another.
The traditional RYB artist’s wheel used in this guide contains three primary colors—red, yellow, and blue—three secondary colors—orange, green, and violet—and six tertiary colors made by mixing adjacent primary and secondary colors: red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet, and red-violet.
The color wheel can be used to find complementary colors, which are colors that are opposite of each other on the wheel. For example, purple and yellow are complementary colors.
Color theory is all about “relationships.” When you understand color relationships, you have a tool that can help you develop your artistic vision. Paint miniatures? Color theory can help.
Read on to learn more about other relationships (and how they form a beautiful “family”).
So, How Does Color Theory Relate to Painting Miniatures?
Color theory can be helpful when painting miniatures because it gives you a framework to think about color schemes.
While some miniature painters like myself work through “feel” and intuition, you may find an “outline” gives you the boost to confidently paint a model.
A color scheme is simply a collection of colors that work well together. A good color scheme will make your miniature painting stand out on the tabletop. There are many ways to create one. The most important thing is to choose colors that complement each other and support the focal point.
This is why color theory is useful. It’s a way to take the guesswork out of choosing colors that work well together.
For example, let’s say you want to paint an army of Chaos Space Marines. You could go with the tried-and-true black and red color scheme (following some reference images), or you could use color theory to find an extended, or completely unique color scheme.
RELATED: HOW TO CHOOSE A COLOR SCHEME FOR YOUR WARHAMMER ARMY
Taking the Black and Red Idea a Step Further
Let’s say you keep black as the dominant color and use orange as a supporting color. Bright orange against black gives you a strong light-dark contrast. That value difference is what helps the model read across the tabletop. I use my grayscale value checker when my eyes stop being honest with me. It happens.
With black and orange in place, you could add purple as a small accent color. I called that a tertiary color in the original draft. Wrong term. On the color wheel, a tertiary color is made by mixing adjacent primary and secondary colors. Purple is simply the third color in this particular palette, and it could give your Chaos Space Marines a dark, menacing character.
Green could work as the accent, too. A muted blue-green may feel cold or alien. A vivid yellow-green has a different energy. The exact mood comes from the hue, value, saturation, surrounding colors, and the story of the model.
Have you noticed that I’m using adjectives of emotion, pathos to describe color?
This is color theory in miniatures.
It’s because color can stir up feelings in people. As painters, we can use those associations when choosing colors for our miniatures. I think of this as the psychology of color.
Of course, you knew this already!
Alright, so as painters, we can use psychology when choosing colors—a little psychological warfare to make a miniature look amazing and draw viewers into our world.
Domicele Jonauskaite and Christine Mohr reviewed 132 studies of color and emotion in 2025. They found recurring associations, while lightness, saturation, context, and culture shaped those patterns. Most studies tested associations, so the effect on a viewer’s felt emotion is still uncertain.
For miniature painters, the practical point is simple. Use hue relationships to organize the scheme, value contrast to keep it readable, and color associations to support the character you want viewers to meet.
If you use a wet palette, place two paint swatches next to each other. Does your blue look brighter beside orange, its complement on this wheel? I do this on my own palette before I commit a color to the model. The swatches make the relationship easier to judge while the paint is still wet.
Let’s move on and talk about some of the applications of color theory in miniature painting.
How I Use Color Theory in Miniature Painting
The color wheel is the main tool we use to access the power of color theory. It can help us find color combinations that work well together.
Of course, after some practice, you won’t think about these things when you start painting. They will come naturally when you pick up your brush.
But it’s good to know the basics so you can fall back on them when you need a reference, or when you’re trying to explain why you chose the colors in your paint scheme.
Here’s the basic organization of the color wheel (divided into 3 parts):
- Primary color
- Secondary color
- Tertiary color
Primary colors
On the traditional RYB artist’s wheel used here, the primary colors are red, yellow, and blue.
They are the starting points used to organize this wheel.
Other color models use different primaries, so treat this as a practical artist’s framework.
Secondary colors
The secondary colors on this wheel are orange, green, and violet.
They are created by mixing two primary colors. Equal parts are a starting experiment because real pigments vary in tinting strength.
Tertiary colors
The tertiary colors are red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet, and red-violet.
They are made by mixing an adjacent primary and secondary color. Real mixtures may lean warmer, cooler, lighter, or darker depending on the pigments you use.
Use the Color Relationships in the Color Wheel to Find a Great Paint Scheme
Now that we know the basics of the color wheel, let’s talk about some of the ways we can use it to find color schemes for our miniatures.
Color theory is about more than just the colors themselves; it’s also about the relationships between colors.
There are five color relationships covered in this guide
- Complementary colors
- Analogous colors
- Monochromatic colors
- Triadic colors
- Split-complementary colors
Let’s take a closer look at each one.
How to Use the Color Wheel to Create a Color Scheme
Complementary Colors
Complementary colors are colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel. For example, red is opposite green, blue is opposite orange, and purple is opposite yellow.
Complementary color schemes are easy to find because the two colors sit across from each other on the wheel. They also make a loud pair—useful when you want a miniature to pop on the tabletop. I usually let one color do most of the work and save the other for an accent.
There are a few things to keep in mind when using complementary colors:
One color should be dominant, and the other should be used as an accent.
You can use a 50/50 split, but it’s usually best to have one color be dominant.
Play with lighter, darker, brighter, or duller versions of both colors. You could paint most of the armor a dark, muted blue and use a small spot of bright orange around the face or weapon. Your eye will find it.
Analogous Colors
Analogous colors are colors that are next to each other on the color wheel. For example, red , orange, and yellow are an analogous color scheme.
Analogous color schemes are easy to create because you only need to find two or three colors that go well together.
They’re also low-contrast, which can be good for painting more subtle details.
There are a few things to keep in mind when using analogous colors:
One color should be dominant, and the other two should be used as accents.
You can use different shades, tints, and tones of the same color. For example, you could use a light blue as your dominant color and a dark blue and green as your accent colors.
Monochromatic Colors
Monochromatic colors stay within one hue and change through tints, shades, and tones. A blue scheme can run from almost-black navy to pale sky blue. Black, gray, and white have no hue, so they are called achromatic. I got that example wrong in the original draft.
Monochromatic schemes are good for painting models that need to blend in with their environment or for painting large areas of a single color.
There are a few things to keep in mind when using a monochromatic color scheme:
Use lighter and darker versions of the same hue. A mid-blue can cover the broad surfaces, deep navy can define the shadows, and pale blue can pull your eye toward the focal areas.
You can add interest to a monochromatic scheme by using textures and patterns. For painting minis for tabletop games, a vast majority of you may not think you’ll need to understand monochromatic schemes.
But, if you’re someone like me who loves to experiment, this approach for finding a scheme could be handy (and dare I say, fun!).
Triadic Colors
Triadic colors are three hues spaced evenly around the color wheel. On the traditional RYB wheel, red, yellow, and blue form one triad; orange, green, and violet form another.
Triadic color schemes are good for painting models that need to stand out from their environment. They’re also high-contrast, which can be good for making your miniatures pop on the tabletop.
There are a few things to keep in mind when using a triadic color scheme:
Choose one color as dominant and use the other two as accents.
For a red-yellow-blue triad, deep blue armor might lead, with muted yellow markings and a small red focal point.
Treat a 60-30-10 split as a flexible compositional starting point.
The 60-30-10 color rule is common in interior design, where one color dominates and the others play supporting roles.
The same idea can help organize a miniature.
The rule is simple: 60% of the room (or model) should be a dominant color, 30% should be a secondary color, and 10% should be an accent color.
For a blue-yellow-red triad, you might use blue on the largest armor panels, yellow on secondary cloth or markings, and a small red accent near the face or weapon. Shift each hue lighter, darker, or duller until the model feels balanced.
Split-Complementary Colors
A split-complementary scheme combines one base color with the two hues beside its complement. On the traditional RYB wheel, a red-based split-complementary scheme uses red with yellow-green and blue-green.
Split-complementary schemes keep much of a complementary pair’s contrast while giving you a second supporting hue. You can use the 60-30-10 idea to decide which color leads and which two stay in supporting roles.
A Quick Word About Acrylic Paint Formulas
Hobby acrylics from Citadel, Vallejo, Reaper, and similar brands are formulated for small models. Pigment load and opacity still vary by color and paint line. Read the label, then see what the paint actually does under your brush.
Game company brands like Citadel, Vallejo, Reaper, and others have great color options. Take a look at my recommended bundles of these hobby paint sets for painting minis.
Highly pigmented paints can feel tricky at first because a tiny amount may push a mix farther than you expected. Add water or acrylic medium a little at a time until the paint flows from the brush and still covers the way you want. The useful amount depends on the paint and the technique.
RELATED: BEGINNER TIPS FOR PAINTING WARHAMMER MINIATURES
Not all paint formulas behave the same. Pigment concentration, opacity, viscosity, binder, and additives all affect how paint covers, flows, mixes, and dries.
Cheap arts-and-crafts paint can be harder to control on fine detail. Budget acrylics such as Liquitex BASICS use fine-art pigments at a lighter pigment load than the professional range. Their thicker body may need different thinning and brush handling. I would happily use them on terrain, bases, or other large surfaces.
What Happens When a Paint Has Less Coverage?
A paint with a lower pigment load or a transparent color may need more coats before it looks opaque. More coats = more time painting. Sometimes that is fine. Sometimes…ugh.
Keep those coats thin and let each one dry. Heavy paint is the problem I care about on a miniature because it softens the tiny details I paid for.
Craft paint can also feel thick or streaky under a small brush, depending on the formula. Ugh.
What Paint Should You Start With?
Paint made for miniatures is the easiest place to start. It usually comes in the viscosity, finish, and bottle style that fits small-scale brushwork.
Artist acrylics can work well, too, once you learn how their body and pigment strength behave. Buy a few colors, use them hard, and let the next project tell you what is missing.
Color Mixing for Painting Miniatures
Now that we’ve gone over the basics of color theory for painting minis, let’s talk about how to mix colors.
For new painters, I suggest using simple ratios.
Stick to two colors at a time and keep the ratios simple. Adding white makes a tint. Adding black makes a shade. A 3:1 color-to-white mix is a reasonable place to start. Golden Artist Colors notes that an even-looking midpoint will not always come from a 1:1 mix because pigments vary in tinting strength. Some colors bully a mixture. Black is one of them. Add it a little at a time.
As a dropper and mixing tool, I like using the back of my paint brush handle. The round bit is almost like an eye dropper without the need to rinse it out. Simply dip the back of your brush handle into your paint (from the pot/bottle or from your palette) and create a swatch on a clean surface.
For those looking to make this easier, a wet palette will keep your acrylic paints wet while you work with them.
The great thing about using the handle instead of your brush bristles is that you have more precision with how much paint is deposited. This also comes in handy when you want to mix just a tiny amount of paint.
I like to start with a small puddle of each color I want to mix on my palette. From there, I’ll use the back of my brush handle to transfer a bit of each color into the desired mixing ratio. I find it easier to add the darker colors first and then lighten the mixture as needed.
Working from box art or a photograph? My Paint Color Matcher can get you close to a starting color before you begin mixing.
As you become more comfortable with color mixing, you can start to experiment with adding a third color into the mix. Just remember to keep your ratios simple at first!
Conclusion
Color theory is a useful tool for miniature painters. It helps me choose colors, organize a focal point, and explain why a scheme feels coherent. Shading and highlights still come from value, placement, and paint handling. Again, check out my miniature gallery to see what I’ve done with color.
Most of the time, the wheel gives me enough direction to put paint on the model. After that, the miniature starts asking its own questions—a little more blue, perhaps, or a strange green in the shadow. That quiet back-and-forth is where the theory becomes yours.
Sometimes I skip the wheel entirely. My article on why I paint without color theory follows that side of the process.
Do you have any tips for mixing colors? Color theory questions? Share them in the comments below!
Happy painting!
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By Andrew M. Tan
Andrew is a commissioned miniature painter with more than 20 years of hands-on experience painting tabletop miniatures, photographing models, and testing hobby tools in real-world use. Read his full bio.