An exercise in color, (or "reinventing the wheel")

red-
RED ry) ora
(tert nge
(prim
a iary) TINTS AND SHADES
ry t
tia le

or con
(s
er io

e
an da
) Tint
(t d-v

a color mixed with white, ranging from pure color at

ge ry
re

maximum intensity through to white

)
Tinting

yello iary)
ary)

Strength ease or degree to which a color will tint white (high strength

(tert
(sec let

w-or
ond

means little is necessary to tint white)

vio

ange
Shade a color darkened by mixing with a dark color, such as
black, or a second color, usually its complementary.
blue

OW
ary)
(tert
-viole

YELL
(prim
iary)
t

Hue another name for color, (for ex. Phthalo blue, Ultramarine blue
ry en
tia re and Prussian blue, are all close in "hue" to each other)
BL ima

er -g

)
(p

(t ow
UE ry)
r

ll

Tone
ye

blue n describes the relative lightness or darkness of a color

-gr
(tert een gree ary) (light, mid, dark) -the tone can lighten if white is added
iary) ond
(sec
to a tint

PRIMARY pure colors (red, yellow, blue)

Value describes the lightness or darkness of a color, such as
light value (lemon yellow) or dark value (indigo)
"first," "principal colors,"
(not the same as brightness or intensity!)
made by manufacture, not mixing

Saturation describes the relative purity of a hue, aka. "chroma" or

SECONDARY mix any two primary colors "intensity" - the pure colors of red, blue and yellow, are
red + yellow = orange all "fully saturated" colors.
yellow + blue = green
blue + red = violet
Color intensity the relative chroma (saturation or intensity) of
TERTIARY "intermediate" colors secondary and tertiary mixes is a measure of their purity
mix together a primary color with or brightness, which depends on the quality of the
an equal amount of the secondary primary colors used to create them. (Most paint
color next to it on the color wheel manufacturers produce multiple versions of each hue)

(red-orange, yellow-green, Lightfastness the grade of lightfastness is an indicator of the paint's

blue-green, blue-violet, red-violet) ability to resist fading when exposed to light

Undertone the bias of a color toward another color, best seen

COMPLEMENTARY PAIRS when the color is brushed out thinly on a white
(such as red & green, orange and blue) surface (those colors with a bias towards each other will
make the most intense mixes)
RED

e TRANSPARENCY VS. OPACITY

a ng
vio
let or Transparency the degree to which a color allows light to pass
through it and reflect back from the color beneath -
used in glazing techniques
(adding white to a color can reduce transparency!)
YEL
LOW Opacity
UE
opposite of transparency, describes the degree to
BL which light is prevented from passing through the
color (aka. "covering power")

green WARM VS. COLD COLOR

Temperature describes a color as "warm" (red, orange, yellow)

INTENSIFY VS. NEUTRALIZE or "cool" (green, blue, violet) - All colors have warm
or cool variants, such as alizarin crimson (blue bias,
"simultaneous contrast" - seen side by side, "cool" red) or cadmium red (orange bias, "warm" red)
complementary colors intensify each other,

Mixed together as a "shade," they subdue

or neutralize intensity
Terms compiled by Paula K. Wirth, [email protected], for UBC FINA181
ref. Sidway, Ian. Color Mixing Bible, Watson-Guptill Publications, NY, 2002.