Hue & Saturation

• The term “hue” is often used as a simile for the term color.

• Hue: generally refers to the dominant wavelength of color out of the twelve colors on the color wheel (being the primary, secondary and tertiary colors).

• For example, the hue of navy is blue.

  • The hue of burgundy is red.

  • The hue of sap green is green.

• Saturation: a measure of how pure a color is.

  • You can reduce the saturation of a color by adding gray or a color on the opposite side of the color wheel (which essentially kills the color).

Value

• Value: how light or dark the color is, on a scale of black to white.

• Value is widely considered to be one of the most important variables to the success of a painting.

• It is widely considered by artists that value is more important than the color used in a painting.

  • This is because value really sets the structure of your painting.

Shades, Tints, & Tones

• Shade: a color plus black.

  • One can get a range of shades by adding varying levels of black.

• Tint: a color plus white.

  • One can get a range of tints by adding varying levels of white.

• Tone: a broad term used to describe a color which is not a pure hue and is not black or white.

  • In many cases, artists use tone to describe a color which has been grayed down (de-saturated).

Color Temperature

• The color wheel is divided into warm and cool colors.

• When a warm color is placed next to a cool color, there is a very strong contrast.

• Alternatively, when a cool color is placed next to another cool color (for example, green next to blue) there is a pleasing harmonious effect.

• Warm colors: traditionally indicate activity and light.

• Cool colors: indicate calm, distant and soothing environments.

• White, black and gray are generally considered neutral colors.