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Tips on Oil Paintings - The Qualities of Color

Any color in existence has three qualities that completely determine the color:

1) Hue

2) Value

3) Intensity

We will now precisely explain what each quality means.

Hue - The hue of a color is simply the name of the color. For example, yellow, red, green-yellow, etc.

Temperature is really an element of hue. The warms colors are the yellows and the reds while the cool colors are the greens and the blues.

However, temperature is a relative term. For example although two different blues are both cool colors, one blue can be warmer than another blue.

For example French Ultramarine Blue leans towards the violet while Phthalo Blue leans towards green. Therefore French Ultramarine Blue is a warmer blue than Phthalo Blue although both blues are cool.

Value - Value refers to the lightness or darkness of the color. If you squint you will see that, for example, that yellow is lighter than blue. The value of a color is actually the most important property of a color in relation to painting.

Intensity - Intensity of a color refers to its brightness or dullness. The more saturated or the purer a color is the more intense it is. A color coming straight out of the tube is in its most intense state. Any mixture will dull the tube color and therefore make it less intense. It is however possible to make most mixtures more intense by adding a touch of one color or another.

Now, if you can nail down the hue, the value, and the intensity of a color you will have reproduced that color. Based on this observation we can outline a mental procedure to guide us with the mixing of colors.

Observe - First you observe the color. For example, is it a certain blue or is it red?

Select - Then you select the color on your palette that resembles the observed color the best.

Analyze - Of course, as you would expect, the pure tube color on your palette will rarely match the color you observed. Therefore, we now must identify how the two colors differ from each other. In this, we need to concentrate on three things: hue, value, and intensity. Does the color need to be adjusted in terms of hue? Does the value need to be adjusted? For example, does this blue need to be darkened or lightened?

Finally, does the intensity of the color need to be adjusted? For example, does the blue need to be brighter or duller? One, two, or all three of these qualities may need adjustment.

So, in this article we have looked at the three important qualities of color: hue, value, and intensity. We defined what they are and were able to extract a procedure that we can follow every time we wish to transfer an observed color to our canvas.

In the beginning you will make many mistakes and the going will be slow. It is generally hard to judge the three qualities of a color and it takes practice. This is particularly the case with judging values and intensities. Nevertheless, you need to practice this procedure every day and over and over again. However, one day it will become second nature just like riding a bicycle. Also, in the beginning don’t be too fussy but try over time to become better and better at it.

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Colors tend to be a part of our lives and in some cases they can influence how we react and feel. This reaction to color is called color psychology. While there are some mainstream psychologists who tend to believe that color does not play a significant part in our behavioral patterns, color psychologists claim otherwise.

This claim has a scientific background for verifying the knowledge. In color psychology the reactions that different people have towards various colors is noted. At this point it is possible to state that this view of color psychology changes from country to country. There is also historical evidence of color psychology being used by some of the early cultures. The ancient Indians, Chinese and the Egyptians believed in healing a person with colors or chromotherapy as it is otherwise known.

With color psychology the very well known colors like red will have different stimuli in various people. There is a common theme that can be noted however. While we regard red as being a bright and invigorating color, there are some people who view red as being overpowering and in some cases disturbing.

Black is another color that is also found in color psychology. There are countless people who love to wear black as they believe that black shows a sophisticated outlook. In color psychology black denotes a tendency to submission. For instance you will find that priests in the Christian faith wear black robes. This is thought by some color psychologists as these priests’ willingness to show submission before God.

Even though we have just covered two examples of what color psychology is about, you are probably seeing the correlation between your behavior and emotional state when you are in rooms or places that have been given a certain color treatment. The study of how we are affected by color can help in the way that treatments are given. Color psychology can also help the psychologist to understand what sort of emotional response to expect from certain patients.

With color psychology being a relatively new field of study there is not a lot of data that can be consistently used. The only indicators for color psychology at this moment are what is recognized as the main colors that people use.

The other shades and how we react to them have yet to be identified and documented. As the field of color psychology grows you will be able to find more facts that deal with how we react and how our behavior and mental patterns change due to certain colors.