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Mop - Color and Tone in Art

Color and tone play an important role in art. Color is produced when light reflects or is emitted from an object, which our brain interprets. There are three primary colors - red, yellow and blue - and all other colors are mixtures of these. Color can be described based on its hue (name), value (lightness or darkness), and intensity (purity). Warm colors tend to advance while cool colors recede. Tone refers to the lightness or darkness of a color, and is created by adding black or white. Lighter values create a brighter tone while darker values make for a more somber tone. Color and tone are important tools artists use to guide a viewer's eye and set moods.

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Mo Chambers
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80 views5 pages

Mop - Color and Tone in Art

Color and tone play an important role in art. Color is produced when light reflects or is emitted from an object, which our brain interprets. There are three primary colors - red, yellow and blue - and all other colors are mixtures of these. Color can be described based on its hue (name), value (lightness or darkness), and intensity (purity). Warm colors tend to advance while cool colors recede. Tone refers to the lightness or darkness of a color, and is created by adding black or white. Lighter values create a brighter tone while darker values make for a more somber tone. Color and tone are important tools artists use to guide a viewer's eye and set moods.

Uploaded by

Mo Chambers
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Color and Tone in Art

By Mop
Color
● Color is literally defined as the property possessed by an object of producing different sensations on the eye as
a result of the way it reflects or emits light
● These properties are then categorized by our brains into what we know as “brown”, or “red”, or “blue”
● All colors derive from a mixture of the three primary colors: red, yellow and blue
● Black is the absence of color whereas white is the presence of all color
● Colors are divided into two main groups: warm colors and cool colors
● All colors must be described with three physical properties:
hue, value and intensity
● Hue is the generic color name which indicates its position in
the spectrum or on a color wheel such as “green” or “orange”
● Value is the quantity of light reflected by a color. Adding black
or white can decrease or increase a color’s value respectively
● Value is also known as tone (see slide 4)
● Intensity (also called saturation) refers to the quality of light in
a color, or purity of a hue. A vivid color is of high intensity
while a dull color is of low intensity.
● Colors can also be organized by their ability to create depth in
a composition. For example a spot of red on a gray surface
appears to stand out while a spot of blue seems to sink in
● Generally warm colors advance and cool colors retreat. An
example of this can be seen in the image on the right
Color
● Color can also be described in psychological terms
● Color has an effect on humans emotionally. It is something we cannot
escape. It is in our nature and is hot wired into us
● It allows us to navigate through society more easily and through the
interpretation of color we can create shortcuts in our minds to assess
the world around us
● For instance often when we see red it draws our attention. The color
red captures and holds our attention more easily than other colors
because it has connotations of danger and caution as well as both anger
and aggression and love and passion
● Because the color red has so many important connotations it is often
used in advertisements and packaging to get the customers attention as
well as art to be something eye-catching or surprising. For example the
painting “Carcass of Beef” by Chaim Soutin shown to the right
● In “Carcass of Beef” you can also observe the effect created by the
contrast created by the harsh black outline separating the warm and
popping colors in the foreground from the sobering and dark blues of “Carcass of Beef” by Chaim Soutin. Credit: Institute of Fine Arts,
the background Minneapolis
Tone
● Tone is the quantity of light reflected by a color, also known as value
● Adding black or white can decrease or increase a color’s tone respectively
● You can easily observe tone in black and white artworks such as the example of a shaded sphere (below, right)
● In this sketch you can clearly denote the different tones across the sphere and see where the light in the image
is coming from
● The top right of the sphere is much lighter than the bottom left as it has a higher tone
● This can be observed in color in the Bob Ross painting “Winter Mountain Lake” (below, left) where the moon
has a much higher value and is almost a baby blue whereas the base of the mountain and the clouds are a much
darker midnight blue
● From these two examples you can see how a
lighter value creates a much more youthful and
upbeat tone in an artwork whereas the parts with
darker values are much more shadowy and
mysterious tone
Winter Mountain Lake by Bob Ross. Credit: Modern Artifact
Contemporary Masters
Credit: Kapunda High Art and Design
Thank You

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