Color and Value

Itten’s 12 colors:

Tints of these colors (white has been added to them to make them lighter.)

Shades of these colors (black has been added to them to make them darker.)

Tones of these colors (gray has been added to them to reduce their saturation and intensity.)

Tints:

Shades:

Tones:

First I tried to make all 12 colors the value of Yellow:

Next I tried to make all 12 colors the value of Violet:

Then I tried to make all 12 colors the value of Green:

Claude Monet (19th C. French) An example of a liberal use of tints:

Camille Pissarro (19th C. French) Predominantly tints:

More Pissarro tints:

Vincent Van Gogh (19th C. Dutch)

A painting with predominantly shades:

More Van Gogh shades:

Pissarro: a painting with mostly tones:

A Van Gogh painting with mostly tones:

Project Number Five: Color/Value You are going to make a painting in Acrylic that has 6 distinct shapes—each shape painted with one of the 3 primaries (red, yellow, and blue) and 3 secondaries (orange, green, and violet) on Johannes Itten’s color wheel. You’ll first create a composition of 6 completely non-objective shapes to fill in. You’ll then mix either black or white into 5 of these 6 colors in order to alter their value.  Create a composition in your sketch-pad that has 6 flat, smoothly interlocking non-objective shapes. Then transfer this composition with pencil and ruler onto your 15”x20” illustration board. (The particular outside dimensions you select for this composition will be up to you, and will likely be variable.) Once you’ve completed penciling in your design, select your favorite primary or secondary from Itten’s 12-color wheel and paint it into one of your shapes in its pure, highly saturated, undiluted form. Then carefully paint in the other 5 primaries and secondaries, only these other colors must be adjusted to match the precise value of your favorite (default) color. In some cases, you will need to add white to lighten up a color and make a tint. In other cases, you will need to darken a color by adding black and make a shade. Squinting your eyes as you look at the composition will help you to reduce your perception of the unique hue of a color in order to better perceive its value. Think about where to place your individual colors to create a balanced overall design. Also: which shape will get the one (and only) pure color in your design? Once you are finished, you will have a composition with 6 distinct colors, but only one value.

(Student work)

(Student work)

(Student work)

Demonstration Time!