If you have questions about color, you are not alone. I’ m currently in a Facebook painting group with nearly 150,000 people and they ask about color all-of-the-time. I’m here to help you.
Multiple color theory classes, years of painting and art classes, a degree in pictorial art, a mural painting business, let’s just say I have become very familiar with color. In fact, Hue and I go way back. Ba-da-ding! (Just a little bad art humor). Take a few minutes now to benefit from my years of schooling and eliminate future color related quandaries.
The human eye and brain translate light into color. The surface of an object reflects some colors and absorbs all others. Color is something that we see when light hits an object and reflects back into our eyes. Reflecting all colors of light would produce white. If an object absorbs all the light and nothing is reflected back, we see black.
Ok, so that is light. But what about paint? If you combined all colors of paint you would not get white. Color works slightly different when working with pigments. Most pigments used in the manufacturing of paint are dry colorants ground into a fine powder and suspended in a solvent.
Color, hue, pigment these are all terms used to reference color. Variations in color are almost limitless. Once you understand how they relate to each other, you can come up with your own successful color scheme. Here’s the break down:
Primary Colors
The primary colors are RED, YELLOW, and BLUE.
Secondary Colors
Secondary colors are composed of mixing two primary colors together.
Red + Yellow = Orange
Yellow + Blue = Green
Blue + Red = Violet (Purple)
Intermediate or Tertiary Colors
Intermediate or Tertiary Colors are produced when you mix a primary color with an adjacent secondary color from the color wheel.
Yellow + Green = Yellow Green
Green + Blue = Blue Green
Blue + Purple = Blue Purple
Purple + Red = Red Purple
Red + Orange = Red Orange
Orange + Yellow = Yellow Orange
All other colors are called Complex Colors because they are made up of a more sophisticated mixing of these twelve colors.
Fun fact: this color wheel/circle and the value scales were painted by me in my first college color class. I only used red, yellow, blue, white and black paint. These painted charts photograph better than the colored pencils, hence the switch.
Cool and Warm
If you were to divide the color wheel in half you would get cool and warm colors. Cool colors are those between yellow green and purple, warm colors are those between yellow and red purple.
Now that we’ve established color, let’s look how they relate to one another.
Complementary Colors
Colors directly opposite of each other on the color wheel are called complementary colors. They create the strongest contrast with each other.
Split Complementary
A split complementary scheme is when a primary color is used with the two analogous colors of its complement on the color wheel. So if yellow is used the split complimentary would be red violet and blue violet.
Analogous
These are colors next to each other on the color wheel. Blue violet, blue and blue green would be an example of an analogous color scheme. Often this type of harmonious color scheme is calming and can be found in nature. Just be sure to have enough contrast in the colors to keep it interesting.
Triadic
A triadic color scheme uses colors that are evenly spaced around the color wheel. These color schemes are usually pretty vibrant. The primary colors (red, yellow, blue) are an example of a triadic color scheme.
Saturation
As the saturation of colors increases, the colors appear more intense or pure. The primary colors are considered the truest version of the color because there is nothing changing the saturation. See the photo for the spectrum of intensity of hues.
Value
In art, value is defined by the relative lightness or darkness of a color. The value of a color can be changed by adding white to make a tint, black to make a shade or adding a medium gray to adjust the tone of the color.
Monochromatic
Monochromatic means that you choose one color and add white to make a tint or black to make a shade of the same color. These variations create the lightest and darkest representations of that single color. So the value of that color has changed.
Gray Scale
I’ve never read the book, but I know there are more than 50 shades of gray. Humans can see about 30 shades of gray, some people can see a few more. A quick Google search came up with the answer that on a computer screen there are about 256 different shades of gray, including black and white.
Tint
Adding white to a hue (color) creates a tint of that color. The more white that is added relative to the pigment, the lighter it appears. Why they call darkening your car windows “tinting,” is beyond me.
Shade
Adding black to a hue (color) will create a shade of that color. The more black that is added, the darker the color will appear.
Tone
Adding a medium gray to a hue (color) will change its tone. The more gray that is added, the more muted the color will appear.
Neutral Colors
Neutral colors are not represented on the color wheel. Black, white and gray are the basic neutrals. However, the more muted earthy tones of a color are often referred to as neutrals. The intensity of a color can change when mixed with its opposite on the color wheel. So if I mixed yellow and violet (purple) together, I would get an earthy brown with a slightly more red undertone. If I mixed blue and orange, I would get an earthy gray with a slight green undertone.
Undertone
Undertone is the subdued or muted tone of color. It’s the color that is seen through and slightly modifies another color. For example, in art, if I was to paint a realistic portrait of a Caucasian person I would use a muted green underneath the flesh toned paint. Sounds weird, but it gives added dimension or depth to color. Very rarely is something one flat color, but it is composed of layers of colors modifying each other.
If you were to paint a wall gray, it is probably not just a straight up value 5 gray. It will be composed of mixing different complementary colors with some neutral (black or white) to get that particular shade of gray. That is why the gray will sometimes have a slightly different undertone to it that will leave it looking more cool or warm depending on the mix.
Yeah, great. Now how do I use this information?
HOUSE TIPS
- Change the light bulbs
If you don’t like the color of your walls or furniture, try changing the light bulbs before anything else. Many times the warm, soft light bulbs will cast a yellow tone onto objects. Try swapping them out for daylight bulbs, especially if you have more blue tones in your home. * Daylight bulbs are not the same as full spectrum, they provide a different color temperature similar to that of the sun.
- Figure out the undertone of something
Use a sheet of white copy paper, or cut a rectangular hole in an index card. Hold it up to the color in question. What colors do you see? If it is a gray, you may see more of a yellow, blue, or purple undertone. This will help you to know what color base you are working with. If you have a gray that has a purple undertone, having a lot of yellow near it will accentuate the purple in it. Why? Purple and yellow are opposites on the color wheel.
- Stop Overthinking
There is a lot of information and innumerable color combinations. You can even break the rules on purpose because you are making a statement. So how do you know what will look good together?
Think of picking out colors of a room like picking out an outfit. Would you wear neon pink with a pastel? If you said no, you know more than you realize. Usually you wear a neutral with a color and maybe add a statement piece for interest. The same goes for a room. Most people would not choose purple walls with orange carpet and teal curtains, it would be color overload. Check out the link below for color questions that have been answered by a professional interior designer, Carolyn Call.
- Finding the right color
Check out Encycolorpedia.com a color directory to find just the scheme you are looking for (along with the paint brand and name that it matches.) More information on how to work the site here. Go to the section on how to get the right shade of paint.
Hopefully more color questions were answered than raised. If you still have more questions comment on this post, or follow my Facebook group Tinged Blue and ask away. I hope all this information will help you to make your house a home. 💙
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Great information that I may be able to apply to my photography skills. Currently I occasionally crop my pictures. Now I may need to thoughtfully, because I’ve been informed about color, use some of the other features that relate to saturation, shading, etc.
Color really can apply in all areas and art forms. I am so glad this post was informative for you. Your photos are so stunning, I look forward to seeing how you experiment with color!
Great overview on color Lisa! Just a quick suggestion to add as a Designer; always select wall color last in the design process if possible. All finish materials, furnishings and fabrics first. Once these items are selected, paint color can be made based on them. The design process/order is a whole other topic, but helpfully this little tidbit helps! 😊
Yes, absolutely! I appreciate that input. I love that you took the time to comment and add some professional tips. I mix my own colors so often that I almost forget that there are those that don’t realize creating a custom color to coordinate with fabric, or other materials, is a realistic option. We’ll have to collaborate on a cheat sheet for the design process sometime. 🙂