The Munsell Color System for Artists

[Richard Budig]

Marvin:

Yes, yes -- I understand, and I have not a whit of argument with anything you said. Aliz is cool when compared to cad red. Ultramarine is warm compared to Purssian (in my opinion). But, both reds are warm and both blues are cool.

I use that on a relative basis, also. If my colors are predominately red/orange, I can still let my eyes dance around the subject and pick up (probably subjectively) cool and warm spots within the overall scene, albeit they may be all red.

Hope I'm making sense here. It works for me because it starts me in the right direction. Once I've establishe what the value is, whether it is "relatively" warm(er) or cool(er), and so on, I find it not too difficult to proceed. I'm going to study your note (above), however, because there is some good info, there.

Thanks for your patience.

[Minh Thong]

Assuming that many beginners are searching thru this forum for guidance in the absence of a teacher, or a unified direction, as I did (and still do), here are two books which are out of print but may still be found used or online which further explain what these fine teachers are discussing.

'The Student's Guide to Painting' - Faragasso
'Mastering the Craft of Painting' - Grado

Both these books go into detail on the Reilly system and provide exercises to reinforce the material. I've probably painted fifty hue/value/chroma charts since I started painting two years ago and the practice was, for me, not having a teacher, absolutely invaluable. I can now just put a dab of Ivory Black/Burnt Sienna and a dab of Flake White on the palette to mix neutral greys on the fly, but having gone thru the full mixing and comparing process (hue/value/chroma) was the single most educational thing I've done in art.

If you can't find copies of these books, message me and I can probably locate a source for you.

Best of luck,

Minh Thong

[Allan Rahbek]

Hi everyone.

I find this topic very interesting. Though most angles are already covered on this issue, I am not aware of if anyone have mentioned the universal color and light scale.

Imagine the globe having all the spectral colors, the color-wheel, around the equator, and the white / black scale running from north to south, by the axis. Every color in the world can be placed in that three dimensional scale.

I agree that no system can guaranty any painters success, because charm of color is caught in the flight, and not something that can be measured out.
But an overall view of the universe of colors, can help you to analyze how to mix the color you want.

Color induction is a tricky part of mixing paint. Below you see a gray scale, and in the middle of every step is placed a spot of medium gray. See how the medium gray apparently changes the light value as it is seen on the background of the surrounding color.

The same induction happens with both color and light. Every color is relative, and the final test is when the paint is applied on the painting.

Allan