PleinColorWheel

A free app for painters learning color theory — built with SwiftUI, powered by real subtractive RYB pigment mixing!

Plein Color Wheel — A Plein Air Painter's Color Companion

Discover the dark green color of the trees and the light blue color of the sky. Go outside. Discover colors.

Color mixing works differently on canvas than it does on a screen. Color Wheel is built around the traditional RYB color model that artists have used for centuries — so when you mix two colors, the result matches what you'd actually see on your palette.

COLOR MIXER

Select any two colors on an interactive color wheel, dial in the brightness, and watch them blend in real time. Switch between paint mediums and see how the mix changes:

Oil — true 50/50 pigment blend, the closest to real-life mixing Acrylic — subtle darkening to reflect how acrylics shift as they dry Watercolor — dilution toward white, simulating transparent pigment thinned with water PAINT PALETTE

A curated library of 23 named artist pigments — Cadmium Red, Ultramarine, Viridian, Burnt Sienna, and more — organized by family: Primaries, Secondaries, Tertiaries, Earth Tones, and Neutrals. Tap any two and the Mixing Bench shows the blended result with a harmony note: complementary, analogous, near-complementary, or in between. Ideal for planning a Plein Air palette before you head outside.

COLOR THEORY REFERENCE

A clean, readable guide to the essentials every painter should know:

Primaries, secondaries, and tertiaries on the traditional color wheel Complementary pairs, analogous harmony, warm vs. cool temperature Tints, shades, and tones — how value and saturation work independently Medium-specific mixing behavior for oil, acrylic, and watercolor