Colors can be described using three main attributes: hue, saturation and brightness. Hue refers to the color itself, like red, blue or yellow. Saturation describes the intensity of a color from pale to rich. Brightness indicates how light or dark a color is. Understanding how these three attributes work together helps artists mix more accurate colors and choose effective color combinations.
What is Hue?
The hue of a color refers to where it sits on the color wheel. The color wheel arranges colors in a circle based on their relation to primary colors red, blue and yellow. Primary colors cannot be made by mixing other colors. Secondary colors orange, green and violet are created by mixing two primary colors. Tertiary colors are made by mixing a primary and nearby secondary color.
Some common hue families on the color wheel include:
| Reds | Oranges | Yellows |
| Greens | Blues | Violets |
The hue of a color is what gives it its name. For example, red is red because of its red hue. Changing the hue of a color dramatically alters its appearance. Shifting red toward orange makes it a reddish-orange. Moving it toward violet results in a reddish-violet.
Hue is often described using these general color names, but can be specified more precisely. A tomato red, fire engine red and candy apple red all have a red hue, but differ subtly in where they fall along the red range of the color wheel.
Hue Temperature
Hues are also categorized into warm and cool families. Warm hues like red, orange and yellow evoke feelings of energy and excitement. Cool hues like green, blue and violet feel more restful and tranquil.
This difference relates to an effect called color temperature. Warm hues remind us of things like fire and sunlight. Cool hues are associated with water, ice and sky. Interacting with different color temperatures can subconsciously influence our mood and emotions.
Understanding hue temperature helps artists choose not just a specific color, but also the impression it conveys. Warm reds feel lively and vivid, while cool reds seem more subtle and refined. Using a variety of hue temperatures adds visual interest and depth to any artwork.
Hue Harmonies
Certain hue combinations look pleasing together by creating color harmonies. Some examples include:
Complementary colors – Opposite colors on the wheel, like red and green or blue and orange. They create high contrast.
Analogous colors – Next to each other on the wheel, like blue, blue-violet and violet. They blend seamlessly.
Triadic colors – Equidistant around the wheel, like red, yellow and blue. They are vibrant and balanced.
Split complementary – A color and the two hues adjacent to its complement, like yellow, purple and red-violet. Provides a subtle extension of complements.
Understanding these harmonies gives artists a starting point for picking visually appealing color schemes. Varying saturation and brightness levels adds more dimensions within a hue-based palette.
What is Saturation?
Saturation, also called chroma, refers to the intensity or purity of a hue. It describes how vivid or dull a color appears.
Fully saturated hues are the pure, rich colors straight from the color wheel. As saturation decreases, colors become more greyed, muted and soft. At minimum saturation, a hue transforms into a neutral grey.
Changing saturation while keeping the same hue is like mixing varying amounts of grey into a color:
| High saturation | Medium saturation | Low saturation |
| Vivid red | Muted brick red | Dull rust red |
Artists alter saturation to shift a color’s brightness or mood. Deeper saturation makes hues feel richer. Reducing saturation mutes colors for a softer, more subdued effect.
Context also affects color perception – a highly saturated hue will appear more intense against subdued tones. Using saturation levels strategically helps compose images with visual vibrancy, depth and balance.
Changing Color Brightness
The brightness of a color describes its lightness or darkness. Brightness varies on a scale from black to the fully saturated hue to white.
Altering brightness makes a hue lighter using tints or darker with shades:
| Tint | Pure hue | Shade |
| Pink | Red | Maroon |
Tinting adds white to a color, moving it towards white on the brightness scale. Shading mixes in black, shifting the hue closer to black. Changing brightness while retaining the same hue and saturation strongly affects the perceived weight and temperature of a color.
Darker shades feel heavier and warmer. Lighter tints feel airier and cooler. Like saturation, the effect also depends on surrounding tones – a medium tint will appear dark next to near-white tones. Mastering brightness through tinting and shading allows adept color mixing and use.
Key of a Color
The perceived lightness or darkness of a color is called its key. This differs from brightness in that key is relative – it describes how dark or light a color seems compared to others in a composition.
A medium blue on its own appears as a medium key. Next to very dark hues, it reads as a higher key. The same blue will look low key alongside light tints.
Assessing a color’s key within a palette helps artists create proper contrast and visual balance. If all colors are high key, the image will feel washed out and monotonous. An image with mainly low key colors appears too murky and heavy. Mixing high, medium and low keys creates pleasing contrast and depth.
Color Tones
Color tone refers to the gradual lightening or darkening of a hue through tinting and shading. Tones allow smooth transitions between different brightness levels.
Some examples of tones using red:
| 9. Maroon | 8. Dark reddish brown | 7. Reddish brown |
| 6. Red | 5. Light red | 4. Pink |
| 3. Light pink | 2. Very light pink | 1. Pink white |
Artists mix a range of tones within a hue to build shape through gradation. Subtly transitioning from light to dark red conveys roundness and form. Quick tone changes create sharp contrasts. Control over tones allows rendering light effects and dimension.
Using tone also establishes emphasis and center of interest. The audience’s eye gravitates towards the lightest tones, making them ideal for highlights. Darker tones recede visually, drawing less attention for low emphasis areas.
Local Color
Local color refers to the inherent hue of an object. For example, a lemon’s local color is yellow and grass is green. Even when shadowed or illuminated, objects retain their foundation local color.
However, interaction with light often modifies surface color. A lemon appears yellow on its sunlit side, but blue-green in shadow. Grass grows richer green in full sun, while shaded patches look darker and duller.
Observing these color variations allows artists to convincingly convey light, shadows and form. It requires analyzing the local color, then layering appropriate tones and intensities. Mastering modification of local color helps create realism.
Choosing Colors with Purpose
For artists, color is not just about aesthetics but also communication. Specific hues, saturations and values convey different ideas and moods. Some color meanings include:
| Red | Energy, excitement, urgency, passion |
| Orange | Fun, enthusiasm, vibrancy |
| Yellow | Joy, hope, intellect |
| Green | Growth, balance, renewal |
| Blue | Stability, calm, trust |
| Purple | Royalty, luxury, spirituality |
Lighter tints feel more cheerful and innocent than their darker shades. Bolder saturations grab attention compared to muted hues.
Thoughtful color choices reinforce what the artist seeks to communicate. A bright, vivid palette expresses energy. Subdued tones convey serenity and grace. Dynamic variation creates visual interest. Developing color fluency allows more meaningful and nuanced expression.
Achieving Accurate Colors
Mixing colors precisely requires understanding their properties and relationships. But color perception also depends heavily on context and lighting.
Even pure red will appear orange next to a bluish purple. Yellow takes on a greenish tone when surrounded by true greens. Our eyes and brain automatically adjust to color interactions in the scene.
Light source temperature also modifies appearance. Warm light will cast a yellowish glow over everything. Cool light makes the same colors seem more blue. To the eye, the hues remain constant even as lighting changes their look.
These complex effects make perfect color accuracy difficult. The impression of a color matters more than matching measured specifications. Due to these intricacies, color is best learned through hands-on experimentation and observation. Training the eye leads to more refined intuition and ability.
Conclusion
A color’s hue, saturation and brightness all contribute to its appearance and perception. Understanding these attributes allows artists to precisely mix and place colors to achieve their desired impression. Matching colors to their symbolic meanings also helps communicate ideas and moods more purposefully through artwork. Mastering color takes dedicated practice, but unlocks a versatile means for visual expression.
