A Beginners Guide to Color.
Color intensity, hue, and saturation - what do they all mean?
Something I've often thought about since I started painting with oils is how similar learning how to paint is like learning a new language.
There are all these new words, terms, techniques, and concepts you need to understand to be able to transfer what you see to your canvas.
In this post, I'll cover some of the most common words and terms you're bound to come across at some point as a new painter, all relating to the world of color.
When you’re more familiar with these words and terms and know what they’re all about, it will be a lot easier to use the different aspects of color in your art, and you'll be well on your way to speaking the language of painting.
Let's go!
Secondary Colors:
Secondary colors are the colors you get when you mix two primary colors.
The secondary colors are; Orange, Green, and Purple.
Purple = Red and Blue
Green = Yellow and Blue
Orange = Yellow and Red
Primary Colors:
When you hear someone talk about the primary colors, they are talking about these three colors; Red, Blue, and Yellow.
Red, blue, and yellow are all colors that cannot be created by mixing any other colors, but from these three colors, you can make a wide range of colors.
Some say that you can mix every color out there from these three colors if you have them on your palette, and if you add on a black and white as well, you can make your color darker or brighter.
Hue:
When we talk about the hue of something, we mean the pure or dominant color of an object.
In other words, you could say that the hue of an avocado is green, the hue of a lemon is yellow, and the hue of a pumpkin is orange. Now, the color intensity might be very low, e.g., you can have a leaf with a softer green, but the hue is still green.
The Value of a Color:
The value of any color decides how dark or light the color is.
Traditionally, black is the darkest color on a value scale, and white is the brightest color on a value scale.
If you mix dark values by adding black to a hue, e.g., a green color, then these values are called ''shades'', in other words, shades of green. If you mix light values by adding white to a hue, e.g., a yellow color, then these values are called ''tints'', in other words, tints of yellow.
The Value of a Color:
The value of any color decides how dark or light the color is.
Traditionally, black is the darkest color on a value scale, and white is the brightest color on a value scale.
If you mix dark values by adding black to a hue, e.g., a green color, then these values are called ''shades'', in other words, shades of green. If you mix light values by adding white to a hue, e.g., a yellow color, then these values are called ''tints'', in other words, tints of yellow.
Color Intensity:
Color intensity tells you something about how bright or dull a color is.
For example, a bright yellow has a high color intensity compared to a grey or a brown.
Often pure colors straight from the tube will have a high color intensity, think bright red, blue, yellow, orange, and green.
If you mix a pure color with a lot of different colors or add a lot of black to it, this can mute the color intensity and make it appear duller.
Color Temperature:
Color temperature tells you something about how warm or cold a color is.
For example, you would generally think of red as a warm color and blue as cold color.
If you look at a color wheel, the right side is considered warm, and the left side cold.
One thing to keep in mind when if you want to play with the color temperature in your painting is that warm colors come towards you and cold colors pullback.
Complementary Colors:
Complementary colors are the colors that are opposite each other on a color wheel.
The two main functions of complementary colors are to bring each other forward or mute each other down.
If you mix the complementary colors, they will lose their intensity or chroma.
For example, if you mix green into a red, you will end up with a very muted red, almost like a brown.
You can use this knowledge to your advantage if you want to make a very intense color a bit calmer.
E.g., You have a very sharp blue you want to make a bit dull, then you can add a small amount of orange, and your blue will become less intense.
If on the other hand, you put two complementary next to each other the colors will appear brighter and more prominent.
OK, so that was 8 of the most common ways we talk about colors when we're using them in a painting,
Primary colors
Secondary colors
Hue
Value
Saturation
Color Intensity
Color Temperature
Complementary Colors
The world of color is a big one, but oh so beautiful and inspiring!
I hope you feel this read gave some answers to any questions you might have pondered regarding the world of color.
Happy painting,