Color Matching in Four Steps
Once you understand these words, you will have a framework for fast and easy color matching:
- Hue > What is the main Color name? You can pick from these choices: Red/Blue/Yellow/Brown/White/Black
- Secondary Hue > Which way does it lean on the color wheel? You can pick either Cool/Warm/Neutral. (Cool = blue and violet; Warm = red and orange; Neutral = yellow and green)
- Value > How Dark or Light is it? You can pick Light/Medium/Dark
- Saturation > How Dull or Bright is it? You can pick Bright/Neutral/Dull
Let's look at some examples:
Image | Hue | 2nd Hue | Value | Saturation |
Blue | Cool (blue) | Light | Bright | |
Brown | Warm (red) | Medium | Neutral | |
Red | Warm (orange) | Medium | Bright | |
Green | Cool (blue) | Dark | Dull |
When you are blending a color, you go through a four step plan, that is basically just adjusting for these four elements.
- Start with the main Hue. This is what you will need the most of, so start with 4 drops.
- Tweak it with the secondary Hue to get it closer to what you want This will be anywhere from 1 - 4 drops.
- Adjust the value by adding black or white. Depending on how light or dark your color is, you may need a lot of white or black.
- Adjust the saturation by adding the complementary color. Usually this is a tweak, just a drop -- or even less than a drop! Add with caution.
If you follow these steps each time, you will more quickly arrive a a Dupe to a color of your choice.
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