12 Top Creative Courses to Learn Color Theory in 2025

Discover the basic rules of working with color to create powerful visual projects with these online courses for design, photography, illustration, and more

Color is everywhere and plays a bigger role in our lives than many people realize. Not only is it a powerful storytelling tool, how it’s used can impact everything from our mood to our emotions, and even how we respond to a brand or artwork.

While choosing a color palette may seem intuitive, to tap into the power of color for your creative projects, first it’s important to understand the basic rules of color theory, and how they’re applied across all kinds of visual disciplines.

From graphic design to photography, and illustration to interior decor, here we share twelve Domestika courses packed with tips and advice to help you learn the basics working with color.

But first, let’s look at what color theory is and why it’s important.

What is color theory?

On a basic level, color theory is a collection of rules visual artists use to create color schemes. These rules help us understand how colors are created, how they complement each other, and how they communicate certain ideas, feelings, and emotions.

To understand which colors work together, we use a color wheel. Both a theoretical and practical tool, the order of the color wheel is universal. It represents how each color is made, and can be used to determine harmony and contrast between colors when devising a color palette.

To learn more download our free color theory eBook for beginners.

Why is color theory important?

Understanding color theory is important for all visual artists as it lays the foundation for building strong color combinations. It can help make your creative process more efficient, add originality to your designs, and give you clearer artistic direction.

Read on to discover practical skills for using color in your creative projects with twelve creative courses to learn about color theory, and how to apply it to your projects.

Color theory for photographers

1. Color Theory in Photography, a course by Yaopey Yong

Color has the ability to transform the way we perceive an image—it’s the unifying element when crafting the composition of a photograph. Photographer Yaopey Yong (@yaopey) uses color to tell stories through his photographs.

In his course Color Theory and Photography, Yaopey teaches you how to understand color and apply its fundamental principles in your photography—exploring the world of color theory both as a science and an art form.

He introduces you to the basics including harmony rules, how to use color psychology to create images that evoke emotion, and practical tips like different camera and image editing techniques to emphasize color in every photograph you take.

2. Photography with Color: Create a Cinematic Look

Take a trip down the colorful brick road by capturing striking photographs and developing your own signature aesthetic with fine art photographer Teresa Freitas (@teresacfreitas).

A photographer who started out on Instagram, Teresa creates her stylish and cinematic images by framing color through composition, exploring editing techniques, and creating a sense of harmony.

In her course, Photography with Color: Create a Cinematic Look, you’ll learn how to apply the rules of color theory and the principles of harmony to create striking, colorful images.

Color theory for designers

3. Color Theory Applied to Online Projects, a course by James Eccleston

Color plays a crucial role in the communication process, establishing a connection with your audience through human psychology and cultural context. Branding and UX expert James Eccleston (@james80) has found color one of the most powerful tools for problem-solving through human-centered design.

In his course on Color Theory for Online Design Projects, James teaches the big ideas behind color theory and learn how to apply them in your own digital designs.

This is a course that will help you become a more complete designer by giving you the tools you need to communicate with color and analyze other designers’ work in terms of color.

4. Color Applied to Graphic Design, a course by Leire and Eduardo

Two university professors and researchers specializing in graphic design, Leire Fernández and Eduardo Herrera (@leireyeduardo) believe that color is one of the most important resources to communicate your message in any image.

In their course on Color Theory for Graphic Design, the pair teach you the functions and variables of color applied to graphic design. You will discover practical and analytical techniques to understand the communicative power of color for strong visual communications.

Color theory for interior design

5. Colorful Interior Design: Styling Homes with Personality, a course by Geraldine Tan

In the world of interior design, color has the power to bring a space to life, create different atmospheres, and add personality to a room.

All about colorful interiors, stylist and content creator Geraldine Tan (@littlebigbell) is one of the UK’s leading interiors bloggers—she’s won multiple awards and been featured in publications including Red Magazine and Glamour.

In her online course on Colorful Interior Design, Geraldine teaches you how to transform a space through color. You’ll discover the psychology of different shades and how to incorporate them into your color palette for interior design that creates welcoming and inspiring environments.

6. Color Applied to Interior Design, a course by Miriam Alía

Interior designer Miriam Alía (@miriamalia) creates striking color combinations and fresh color palettes that reflect the personality of a space. Color psychology is a fundamental aspect of her designs that have been featured in Architectural Digest, Elle Decor, and more.

Through her course exploring Color for Interior Design, she teaches you how to create strong chromatic combinations for interior projects.

She’ll run you through her method of researching and working on a color scheme to find the ideal combination, teach you how to organize your ideas to harmonize a space, and how to work your own color style into a room.

Color theory for painters and illustrators

7. Introduction to Colour Psychology: Chromatic Narrative, a course by Sole Otero

Sole Otero (@sole_otero) is a textile designer, illustrator, and cartoonist with an in-depth knowledge of how colors are used symbolically to convey emotions.

In her Introduction to Color Psychology course, she’ll teach you the basic concepts of symbolism and creating chromatic palettes that convey emotions to help you effectively use color as a narrative device in your work.

8. Color Theory: How to Apply It to Your Images, a course by Jean Fraisse

As an experienced concept artist and art director, Jean Fraisse (@jbfraisse) is a strong believer in the power of color to enhance the quality of your animations and illustrations.

In his course on Color Theory for Illustration, Jean shares advice for applying color theory to your drawings so you can create your own style and atmosphere. You’ll learn about color narrative, how to identify the mood of an image, and build a balanced color palette for a sequence of images.

9. Creative Watercolor Sketching for Beginners, a course by Laura McKendry

Artist and illustrator Laura McKendry (@laura_mckendry) creates vibrant watercolor illustrations for the likes of Laura Ashley and Papyrus. Often drawing inspiration from nature, for her, it's important to be able to build color palettes based on "real-world" colors.

As part of her course on Creative Watercolor Sketching—starting with the foundations of color theory—she shows you how to mix and paint with different color combinations in both a controlled and more playful way. You'll experiment with color combinations in your sketchbook to express your playfulness and enhance your illustration style.

10. Coloring with Watercolor: Discover Your Chromatic Character, a course by Luiza Normey

As an artist, the colors you choose say a lot about you and your work—but how do you pick a color palette that truly reflects your personal style? Artist and entrepreneur Luiza Normey's watercolors express her individuality to a T.

To help you discover your chromatic character, in her course on Coloring with Watercolor, Luiza shares her advice and techniques for building custom color palettes that work for you. You'll learn how to mix colors, create a vibrant array of tones, express yourself, and create pieces that use color to evoke intrigue.

Color theory for embroidery artists

11. Theory of Colour for Textile Projects, a course by Karen Barbé

As with most crafts, in embroidery the colors you use are just as important as the design you choose and your stitches for a final piece that stands out. With this in mind, in her course on Color Theory for Textile Projects, embroidery artist and designer Karen Barbé (@karenbarbe) shares different ways to choose color palettes for your embroidery projects.

This course isn’t for learning how to embroider, instead you’ll learn the importance of colors and how they behave and "dialogue" with each other, how to plan which color threads you’ll use in your projects, and advice for applying them to your designs.

12. Realistic Embroidered Portraiture: Tell Stories with Color, a course by Nneka Jones

Mixed-media artist Nneka Jones (@artyouhungry) is known for her experimental embroidery, inspired by her Caribbean heritage and based on important stories of social injustice. Her work has featured on the cover of TIME and in the Tampa Museum of Art.

For her, when using color, “it’s not only important to pay attention to the color itself, but how it will make your viewer feel.” In her course on Realistic Embroidered Portraits, she teaches you how to intentionally combine and contrast colors and use a color symbolism chart to tell stories full of feeling.

Continue exploring the world of color and creativity

– Discover the basics of color theory with the experts in our free eBook, A Beginner's Guide to Color Theory, by Domestika.

- Experiment with colors in your creative projects with the help of five free resources to create your own color palettes.

- From Peppa Pig to WALL.E, learn how animators use color to tap into our subconscious and build emotional connections.