The language of color

By now you should realize that there are more than 3 primary colors.  The color theory by Albert Henry Munsell is the standard.

Munsell's small book is available from the Chicago Public Library.  He uses 3 color terms.  The first is Hue, the color itself.  The primary hues are Red, Yellow, Green, Blue and Purple.  By adding Black and White you would have a complete palette.

Value is the lightness of the color.  Some authors use the terms, tone for the addition of white to the hue and tint for the addition of black.

Chroma is the purity of the hue.  Having been trained as a scientist, I immediately think of saturation or intensity.

In his book he gives a simple description of the system.  Imagine your hand with your fingers closed so that all of the finger tips come together.  Holding your hand vertically, the knuckles represent the primary colors, R, Y,G, B, and P.  As you move towards the finger tips you add white to the colors until you reach pure white (a theoretical threshold) as you move down to the wrist you add black to the colors until your reach pure black.  This model presents a three dimensional color chart.

Munsell's system works great.  It helps me conceptualize the process of mixing colors and opens the door to placing the color on the ground (canvas, paper or whatever).  There are some wonderful products for the Munsell system.  The most expensive is the Munsell color chips, I've seen a full set and it is beautiful and pricey.  I use a color wheel by Jill Ridder, www.jillrider.com  The exterior of the wheel has the common color names, Vermilion, Cadmium Red and so on, the circular spinner is funnel shaped to show the analogous colors, the  two discords and compliment.  For instance, Vermilion, has discords that are between Violet + Magenta and Emerald Green + Phthalo Green with a compliment between Cobalt Blue + Phthalo Blue.  The painter uses these discords and compliment to punch up her painting.

This works great, except that when you go to the local Art store, you do not find colors labeled with Munsell color names.  Some paint manufacturers do list the Munsell information in their website, bless them, but it is a tough search.  To further complicate matters, our computer screens do not mix colors the way we artists do and the Munsell system is not represented adequately on line.  Simply put the Vermilion shown on the screen is not the Vermilion squeezed from the tube.

There are other standards, C.I., Colour Index International and ASTM, American Society Testing Materials.  These standards present a code for instance NR1, meaning natural red number 1, or PR1, pigment red number 1.  It is these standards that are very specific down to the formula for the pigment in your hand.  No longer does the artist have to rely on an inexact historical descriptive name to purchase color.

Finally, if I am seeking Alizarin Crimson, PR83, http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/waterr.html tells me that there are 6 true pigments manufactured and a lake and a hue both are versions of the true color.  This is not to say that a lake or hue is bad, but if you are painting with PR83 and switch brands mid-painting (horrors) a lake or hue is not the same color.  Handprint laboriously tested all of the watercolors available and compiled them with all of the information.  Thank you Handprint!