The first installment of the Munsell Color Theory introduction. We were taught in school that there were only three primaries — and I’m not saying that was wrong, per se, only very limiting. In the early 20th century, Professor Albert Henry Munsell developed a color theory based on the human visual system’s perception of color that later inspired color matching consistency across manufacturing. This system is supremely helpful for artists, nature jouralers, knitters, designers — anyone who creates with (or loves) color. 

Unlike the three-color primary theory, the Munsell system (as I call it) has five primaries: yellow, green, blue, violet, and red, as well as addresses hue, value, and chroma. The three-color theory concerns itself mostly with hue across the spectrum, and chroma, value, and temperature being relegated to one side or the other of the color string. This, in my opinion, is too limiting when faced with the myriad colors found in nature.

But before we go on, let me explain the terms I used above to define the attributes of color so we are on the same page. Also I have listed them in the order I use them when assessing colors in my subject:

Hue

We commonly refer to this as “color” and it’s the starting point in mixes. When looking at a subject, ask yourself what is the over all color? This is what’s known as “local color” or local hue, and will form the base of your mix. The next question to ask right away is, is this color more X than Y? For example, is this local hue green more yellow or more blue (its two adjacent colors on either side)?

Temperature

A subtopic of hue, temperature is how warm or cool a color appears. The problem, I feel, with the three-color primary system is that we’re trained to think of blue as cool and yellow as warm, but that defies reality. All hues are warm and all hues are cool, and sit on a relative scale. Compared with your subject hue, is your mix warmer or cooler than your target?

Value

Value, as you may already know, is how light or dark a color appears to be and depends on what is next to it to determine this accurately. After the initial guesstimate, the rest of the painting process is adjusting this attribute of hue to keep the value scale realistic (value scale is another “Tuesday” topic that’s on the schedule for this spring… so important to realism, but I digress…).

Chroma

This refers to how bright or how dull a hue appears. After you select your local hue and determine the value, ask yourself is the actual hue brighter or duller than the subject?

The Munsell system spreads these attributes across the all primaries while considering each element as relative. I always think of the difference between traditional color theory and the Munsell system of color as the difference between seeing something in two-dimensions vs. three dimensions — both can be accurate, but the latter has more nuance and lends itself to realism.

View this week’s video demo to see a brief demonstration of how to adjust color. We will spend the next seven weeks diving into the detail of the individual primaries (with more detail about adjusting hue, value, and chroma of each), plus adding toning earth colors and a chromatic black to a foundation palette.

Next week: Yellow!

Part 1 of an ongoing Tuesday series about the materials and tools used for nature journaling and in my own studio practice.