CHAPTER 3 Color in Pigment

In addition to understanding the principles of light and shade, you should also be thoroughly familiar with the principles of color, which can then be applied specifically to makeup paints.

All color originally comes from the source of light. White light is a mixture of light rays of all colors. Technically, pigment has no color of its own but has, rather, the ability to absorb certain rays and reflect others. The rays it reflects are the ones that are responsible for the pigment’s characteristic color. “Red” lips, for example, absorb all light rays except the red ones, which they reflect, making the lips appear red. A clown’s white face reflects all of the component rays of “white” light and therefore appears white. Black eyelashes, on the other hand, absorb all the component rays in white light and therefore appear black.

Since we are concerned here primarily with the artist’s point of view, suppose we merely accept for the moment the existence of color in pigment and begin by examining the relationships characteristic of the various colors we see.

Characteristics of Color

In order to be able to talk intelligently about color and to approach the problem in an organized way, it is convenient to know three terms usually used to designate the essential characteristics of color—hue, intensity, and value.

HUE The hue of a color is simply the name by which we know it—red or green or blue or yellow. Pink and maroon are both variations of the basic red hue; brown is a deep, grayed orange; orchid is a tint of violet.

If we take samples of all of the major hues with which we are familiar and drop them at random on a table, the result, of course, is chaos. But as we place hues next to each other that are somewhat similar, we begin to see a progression that by its very nature becomes circular—in other words, a color wheel. That is the traditional form of hue arrangement and for our purposes the most practical one.

Since, however, the progression from one hue to another is a steady one, the circle could contain an unlimited number of hues, depending only on one’s threshold of perception—the point at which two hues become so nearly alike as to be indistinguishable to the naked eye and, for all practical purposes, identical. But since a wheel containing hundreds of colors would be impractical, certain hues are selected at regular intervals around the circumference. The simplified color wheel illustrated in FIGURE 3-1A has been chosen because it is the one that is most familiar.

INTENSITY Thus far we have been speaking only of bright colors. But more often than not we shall be using colors of less than maximum brightness. A gray-blue is still blue, but it is far different from the blue on the color wheel. Although of the same hue, it is lower in intensity. This color would be shown as being nearer the center of the wheel—more gray, in other words. Colors on the periphery are of maximum brilliance. Colors nearer the center are less brilliant (of lower intensity) and are commonly referred to as tones.

VALUE In addition to being blue and low in intensity, a specific color may also be light or dark—light gray-blue, medium gray-blue, dark gray-blue. This darkness or lightness of a color is called its value. A light color has a high value, a dark color has a low value. Pink is a high value of red; orchid is a high value of violet; midnight blue is a low value of blue. Since the color wheel is only two-dimensional, it obviously cannot be used to demonstrate values, the third color dimension. But this third dimension can be added simply by placing two solid cones base to base with the flat round color wheel between them, as in FIGURE 3-1B.

FIGURE 3-1 Color diagrams. A. Color wheel. B. Double color cone. C. Color triangle. D. Location of values of red on the color triangle.

From the color wheel we can go up or down within the cone. As we go up, we approach white, and as we go down, we approach black. Colors in the upper part of the cone are called tints; those in the lower part are called shades. (See FIGURE 3-1C.) Straight up the center from tip to tip there is an even progression from black to white; around the periphery, an even progression from one brilliant hue to another; and from any point on the outside to the center, a similar progression from a brilliant hue to gray.

Since any given point within the color cone represents a specific color, a vast number of colors is obviously possible. But every one can be located with reasonable accuracy in terms of hue, intensity, and value.

Color Mixing

If you don’t have the exact color you need, you can, provided you have three primary colors to work with, mix virtually any color you want. These three primary hues are red, yellow, and blue, which can be mixed to achieve three secondary hues—orange, green, and violet, as well as an infinite number of intermediate hues. These hues will not, however, be so brilliant when obtained by mixing as when compounded directly from their sources in nature. Mixed colors always lose some intensity.

A glance at the color wheel (FIGURE 3-1A) will show the reasons for this loss. Blue-green, for example, lies midway on a straight line between blue and green since it is obtained by mixing those two colors. Obviously, that brings it nearer to the gray in the center of the wheel than if it were placed on the periphery, where the primary and secondary colors are located. if the orange on the color wheel were obtained by mixing red and yellow, it too would fall nearer the center.

Colors falling opposite each other on the color wheel are called complements and when mixed will produce a neutral gray, as indicated on the color wheel. Blue and orange, for example, can be mixed to produce gray. However, if only a little blue is added to the orange, the result is a burnt orange. Still more blue will give varying intensities of brown.

The same result can be obtained by mixing black and white with the brilliant hue. Any color can be obtained by mixing three pigments—a brilliant hue, black, and white. The color triangle in FIGURE 3-1C illustrates the principle. This triangle should be imagined as a paper-thin slice cut vertically from the outside of the cone to the center. Since the triangle bounds the complete range of any one hue, a mixture of hue, black, and white at the three points can provide a color at any point within the triangle.

Pink, for example, can be obtained by mixing white with red. Mixing black with red will produce maroon. In order to achieve a dusty rose, both black and white must be added. FIGURE 3-1D shows where various tints, tones, and shades of red fall on the color triangle.