Joanne Wolfgang von Goethe saw Newton's approach to color as rather like describing a rose. In terms of the collection of uniformly gray subatomic particles get completely ignoring the essence and the beauty of the color itself. Wolfgang was not concerned with the ultimate cause of color, only with its effect on the eye and the mind of the observer. For Wolfgang yellow is his first color to appear when White is darkened, and blue, the first color to appear when black is lightened. That's for Wolfgang, yellow and blue are the two poles of a whole new color system, otherwise referred to as color pairs, each of which have opposing qualities. For example, plus or minus warm or cool additive or passive.

After yellow and blue, Wolfgang suggested two more basic color pairs, red and green, orange and violet. This group of peers suggested complementary colors and form the basis of his color, circle and color triangles.