Spring 2006 - Fascination with Color

Here in the northeast we legitimately complain a lot about light and color deprivation during the long winter season. No one appreciates spring as much as those of us who have endured the last drab months of winter.

Finally, it is April and spring is on the horizon. Crocuses and daffodils are popping up and iris will soon follow. Color is creeping back into the landscape having an immediate positive impact on our psyches.

Many of us are fascinated by color and its effects. We want to incorporate color into our environments to increase our sense of well-being. Whether it is our home, our workplace, etc..., there are scant few resources to turn to for color education.

My intention during the past year or so has been to direct some attention away from my consulting business to offer courses specifically in paint color selection for residential environments, starting with a self-paced home study course for interiors.

The demand for my course, Creating Perfect Palettes, has been too great for me to produce it on my own. I am currently exploring possibilities for production including discussions with my book publisher to see if they can handle the distribution. So, until I can find a way to produce the course, I must delay it. I apologize to all of you have already contacted me, and promise to let you know as soon as I find a way to make it available. I'm including a sample activity and a little snippet from the course to give you a sense of how the course reads.

Tints and Shades

The fun and art of color consulting is in finding and using the subtleties in color: brighter, greyer, richer, more delicate.

Next you will learn how to use tints, shades, and chroma. Before proceeding with this unit, review the color terminology in the box on this page. Feel free to flip back to these definitions throughout this unit.

The three technical features of color are: Hue, Value, and Chroma. Hues come in different tints (lighter), tones (grayer), and shades (darker).

Color Terminology:
Hue = Color, Name of color
Tint = Color plus White
Tone = Color plus gray
Shade = Color plus Black
Value = How light or dark
Chroma = How bright or dull
Intensity = How much color

As I explained in the video, it is with the combination of these features of color such as their lightness, their grayness, and their brightness, that the great masters achieved such variety and contrast in their paintings. And you will use this same knowledge to combine colors to their greatest effect for yourself and your clients.

Take out your paint strips.

Tints and shades: Starting with a typical paint strip with 4 to 7 gradations of the same color, I look at the darkest "shades" of the color first. I look for an appealing, lively, rich color. Once I find one that I really like, I move up the strip to a lighter 'tint' for a wall color to use in my overall scheme. Sometimes, though less frequently, I use the dark or bold colors from the bottom of the strip for the wall color.

Examining the darker shades at the bottom of the strip allows you to truly see the qualities and undertones of the colors. Is it grayer, browner, redder?

Activity: Tints and Shades

Take three paint strips from the same color family (i.e., 3 yellow strips).

If you hold 3 paint strips from a color family next to one another and look only at the lightest tint at the top of each strip, you may have difficulty discerning the differences between them. Comparing three pale yellows for example, is difficult. But, by comparing the darker shades at the bottom, you will be able to more readily understand the subtle pigment differences that make up the lighter tints at the top of the strip. This will enable you to make better color choices. Looking at only the lightest chips is where most people make their biggest mistake.

Follow this method when making color choices: Start by comparing the darkest shades at the bottom of the paint strips. You will see the obvious differences between the colors and will be more able to distinguish the subtleties of the medium and lighter tints as you move toward the top of all three strips. You become better equipped to select among the pale tints. Do you want pale butter cream, or pale lemonade? Morning sky blue, or pale icy blue? This method helps to prevent color mistakes.

The closer the colors are in tint, the more subtle the differences and the more difficult to discern until they are on the wall.