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Color Properties

Every color possesses four different properties - hue, value, intensity, and temperature.

HUE: Hue is the name given a color based on its spectral appearance.

VALUE: Value is the relative lightness/darkness of a hue. A tint is a color that has been lightened by adding white to it. A shade is a color that has been darkened by adding black to it.

INTENSITY: Intensity is the relative brightness/dullness of a hue. The intensity of a color is also referred to as its saturation or chroma. A color can be made to appear to be brighter by placing small amounts of its complement next to and around it. You can also blend a lighter, brighter adjacent color into a color and make it appear to be brighter. To dull a color you either mix a bit of its complement into it or you mix gray into it.

TEMPERATURE: Temperature is the relative coolness or warmth in the appearance of a hue. Reds, oranges, and yellows are referred to as warm colors. Blues, greens, and violets are referred to as cool colors.

The properties of color are also referred to as the dynamics of color and the characteristics of color.

TINT

HUE

SHADE

The general relationship of the first three properties of color can be diagrammed in the following way:

A tint is a subtractive mixing of a hue with white.

A shade is a subtractive mixing of a hue with black.

A tone is a subtractive mixing of a hue with gray.

The color wheel divides into a relative warm group and a relative cool group. The proportional mixtures that make up the edge colors determine if they are warm or cool. A skilled colorist can give apparent warmth to cool colors and vice versa. Warm colors tend to advance toward the viewer while cool colors tend to recede from the viewer.

Traditional Color System | Color Schemes | Additive/Subtractive Color