Shades + Surroundings | Colour Part 2

A couple of terms:

Tone: how light or dark a colour is

Shade: different shades of the same colour occur because of the variety of ways a colour can be mixed (i.e. some blues are mixed with a touch of red, while other 'shades' of blue are not).

Complimentary Colours: these are colours that are opposite each other on the colour wheel.

There are millions and zillions of colours!

We need only to open our eyes to confirm that yes, there are many colours out there! Within each colour of the rainbow, there are vast options for how that colour can be expressed. The shade of a colour is determined by the specific mixture of colours that create its colour composition. A yellow paint colour, for example, can be made by mixing cadmium yellow + a dash of burnt umbra + white. This will look much different than pure cadmium yellow.

Blue, traditionally a cool colour (see my last post on colour), can be made warmer by incorporating warm colours such as red and brown to its colour composition. 

This monochromatic colour scheme used in this painting is made interesting by the wide variety of blue shades used and the contrast between warm blues and cool blues.

Outside of the way a colour is mixed, it will also look a certain way based on its surroundings. Colours are affected by and affect their surroundings. Cadmium red, for example, when placed in close association with its complimentary colour, blue, appears very vibrant.

 However, when cadmium red is placed among other shades of cadmium red or colours close to it on the colour wheel, it appears much softer.

To make a vibrant colour feel less punchy, place it close to its colour wheel neighbors. If you want to make your space feel punchy and bright - incorporate complimentary colours into the space - perhaps in furniture pieces, trimmings, or on decorative elements such as throw blankets or pillows.