Often, when asked to name a color, our descriptions are subjective and almost lyrical. For example, we will say, “sky blue” or “forest green".
But color is much more complex than that … for a more accurate description, we need to understand the three principle characteristics of color:
• hue – The quality that distinguishes one color family from another, as red from yellow or green from blue. Hue has only one dimension, color has three: hue, value and chroma.
• value – The lightness or darkness of the color. Lightness of a color depends on the percentage of light reflected from the colored surface (lightest is white- most light is reflected, darkest is pitch black- no light is reflected. Gray- some light is partially absorbed, and partly reflected). Often referred to as Tints (light colors, mixed with white), Shades (dark colors, mixed with black) and Tones (mixed with gray).
• chroma – The brightness or dullness of the hue. Chroma involves the intensity and purity level in a hue that can range from fully saturated to infinite levels of neutrality. Neutralized or grayish colors show weak (LOW) chroma. Intense colors show strong (HIGH) chroma.
For example, although the side of the paint container might say “Bar Harbor,” it would be better to say the paint is blue-green (hue), darkish (value), and moderately intense.
There are two common types of color: additive color and subtractive color.
Additive color refers to the mixing of colors of light. The three primaries in light are red, blue, and green. When all of the colors of the spectrum are combined, they add up to white light.
Subtractive color refers to the mixing of colors of pigment, such as paint or the ink in your computer's printer. This type of color is what is used in the art and design world. The three primaries commonly used by art students are red, yellow, and blue. The three primaries in your printer are magenta, yellow, and cyan.
Work Cited: Color Basics by Stephen Pentak and Richard Roth
