| COLOR
TINTS
|
| A
tint describes a color that is mixed with white. |
| |
| COLOR
SHADES
|
A
shade describes a color that is mixed with black. |
| |
| COLOR
INTENSITY
|
| Color
intensity is the strength or value of a color.
In our illustration, the three violet rectangles are identical
colors but they appear to change when surrounded by different
colors. Therefore, the intensity of a color changes in relation
to the color that surrounds it. This effect is known as
Simultaneous Contrast. |
|
| TRANSPARENT
COLORS
|
| Transparent
colors are colors that you can see through. Paint is usually
mixed very thinly to make it transparent. Watercolor is
the most transparent paint, but oil and acrylics can also
be thinned for a similar effect. Transparent paint is applied
in what we call a ‘color wash’ in watercolor
painting or a ‘color glaze’ in oil or acrylic
painting. When you overlay two transparent colors they will
mix to create a third. Certain different types of paint
and different colors are naturally more transparent than
others. |
| |
| OPAQUE
COLORS
|
| Opaque
colors are colors that you cannot see through. Paint is
usually mixed very thickly to make it opaque. Oil and acrylic
paint are the most opaque paints, but gouache is a type
of watercolor also designed for this purpose. Certain different
types of paint and different colors are naturally more opaque
than others. Titanium white is often added to very transparent
colors to make them opaque. |
|
| WARM
and COOL COLORS
|
| Warm
colors are said to be visually and emotionally exciting,
while cool colors have a more calming effect. The red /
yellow side of the color wheel is said to be warm, similar
to the colors of fire. These colors appear to advance towards
you and stand out more than other colors when viewed from
a distance. The green / blue side of the color wheel is
said to be cool, similar to the colors of ice. These colors
appear to recede and fade into the distance. A knowledge
of how warm and cool colors work is useful when arranging
colors in a landscape to create the illusion of distance.
This illusion is called Aerial
Perspective. |
