Colors are often associated with moods. For example, we say "green with envy," "a blue mood." Certain colors also look cool, such as blue, green and violet; and others look warm, like red, orange and yellow.

Warm and intense colors appear to advance toward the viewer, while cool or dull colors recede. In this painting the yellows used to create the warm glow of lights in the windows contrast with the cool violets used in the background and atmosphere.

The blue in this painting is made more intense by its complementary color, orange.

Sometimes the same color will appear to be two slightly different colors when placed against different backgrounds.

The red in the poet's jacket, although the same color used for the foliage in the upper right corner, appears to be a different because of the colors which surround it.