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Harmonious colours sit beside each other on the colour wheel. These colours work well together and create an image which is pleasing to the eye.

Harmonious colours may also be referred to as analogous colours.

A harmonious colour scheme uses three to five colours that are beside each other on the colour wheel. For example:

Three-colour harmonious set:

• Yellow
• Green-yellow
• Green

Five-colour harmonious set:

• Blue-green
• Blue
• Blue-purple
• Purple
• Red-purple

In Blue Dancers (1899) Edgar Degas uses harmonious blue and green pastels that create a calm atmosphere.

Blue, blue-purple and blue-green tints in the dresses are repeated in the background, linking it and the subjects.

These cool colours contrast with warm red, pink and yellow-brown in the dancers’ skin and the space around them.

In this photograph of Mrs Selma Schubart (Arthur Stieglitz, 1907) the orange tone of the dress harmonises with the lighter tint of the cardigan and with the fallen leaves and red petals on the bench.

The use of similar colours creates a sense of harmony between the dress and the natural autumn surroundings. The result is a warm and relaxed composition.