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Observing Color and Value
Color
Color: The hue, value, and intensity of an object as seen by the human eye.
Color in art is based on color theory, which is composed of three basic parts:
- the color wheel hue,
- color value, and
- color schemes.
Color is the element in art of reflected light that is interpreted by the eye.
Color value refers to darkness or lightness of a color and is affected by adding black or white.
- Adding black produces shades.
- Adding white produces tints.
Color Properties
There are three properties to color.
- Hue: simply the name of a color
- Intensity: the brightness or strength of a color
- Value: the lightness or darkness of a color.
Watch the video Elements of Art: Color (4:42) to learn more about color. PBS login information.
Georges Seraut, A Sunday on Le Grande Jatte, 1884-86.
See a larger version of A Sunday on Le Grande Jatte here. Image is in the public domain.
Claude Monet, Poppy Field, 1873.
See larger version of Poppy Field here. Image is in the public domain.
Color Wheel
A color wheel is the spectrum bent into a circle. It was developed by Sir Isaac Newton.
See a larger version of the color wheel here.
Next, we're going to discuss the different colors on the color wheel.
Primary and Secondary
Primary colors are those colors from which all other colors are made. They are yellow, red and blue.
Secondary colors are made by mixing equal parts of two primary colors together. They are orange, green and violet.
Intermediate
Intermediate colors are made by mixing equal parts of a primary and secondary color together. The proper way to refer to intermediate colors is to list the primary color first and then the secondary color. For example:
- Yellow-Orange
- Yellow-Green
- Blue-Green
- Blue-Violet
- Red-Violet
- Red-Orange
Warm Colors
Warm colors are colors that show warmth. Artists also use them to show happiness and excitement.
Warm colors include yellow, yellow-green, yellow-orange, orange, red-orange, and red.
Cool Colors
Cool colors are colors that show coolness. Artists use them to show calm, peaceful, restful things.
Cool colors include green, blue-green, blue, blue-violet, violet, and red-violet.
Value
Value: The relative lightness or darkness of a color
White is the lightest value; black is the darkest. The value halfway between these extremes is called middle gray.
Value is very important to drawing and painting because value changes are what creates contrast. Contrast is needed to help us see and understand a two-dimensional work of art.
A value scale completed using a pencil.
Watch the video Elements of Art: Value (3:36) to learn more about value. PBS login information.
Because we see objects and understand them because of how dark or light they are, value is very important to art.
Value is used to create the illusion of highlights and shadows on an object or objects.
This image is of flowers, birds, and plants was drawn by hand. While it's in black and white, notice the differences in value in each shape.
Shading
Value can be created by using several shading techniques. Artists can use a variety of materials to create shading, which is technique used in drawing for depicting levels of darkness on paper by applying media "Media" is the plural form of "medium." An artist uses a medium, such as ink or pencil, to create a work of art. more densely or with a darker shade for darker areas, and less densely or with a lighter shade for lighter areas. Types of shading techniques include:
- Hatching
- Crosshatching
- Stippling
Hatching is an artistic technique used to create tonal or shading effects by drawing (or painting or scribing) closely spaced parallel lines.
Hatching is used in both drawing and painting, where tone is built up through a series of thin strokes or lines. The lines can be short or long, and how close together they are influences the tone.
See a larger version of hatching examples here.
Crosshatching is the use of fine parallel lines drawn closely together, to create the illusion of shade or texture in a drawing.
Crossing the hatched lines creates sets of closely aligned parallel lines that crisscross at angles to each other. Crosshatching is used to create tone and to model forms, and it produces an even darker, more solid-looking effect.
See a larger version of hatching and crosshatching examples here.
See a larger version of more hatching and crosshatching examples here.
Stippling (which is also called pointillism) is a technique of using patterns of dots to create values and value gradation.
See larger version of stippling examples here.
Value can also be created in color as well.
Albrecht Dürer's engraving Erasmus of Rotterdam from 1526, shown below, is a great example of how an artist uses different shading techniques.
See a larger version of Erasmus of Rotterdam here. Image is in the public domain.
