Color Theory: What is Chroma?

In reading or hearing about color, you may hear the term "chroma" and wonder, what exactly, does chroma mean? It sounds kind of like chrome. Is it related? Something shiny? 

A simple explanation is that chroma=intensity, or how bright the color appears. Not bright as in "shiny", like chrome, but bright as in very highly pigmented, very highly concentrated color. In painter's terms, "straight out of the tube". 

Another term you may see for this is "saturation", which is used often in filmmaking - more saturated (bright) colors have a higher chroma, and less saturated (muted) colors a lower chroma. 

The three characteristics of color are: hue (what color it is), value (lightness/darkness), and chroma (intensity).

For example, the predominant color in my sketchbook drawing below is pink (hue), medium value (value is measured either on a 1-10 scale where 1 is equal to black and 10 is equal to white. I'd give this a 5 or 6) and a high chroma. It's a very intense color.

So the highest chroma is dazzling, intense color. As the color gets more muted, the chroma becomes lower, until the lowest chroma is just grey. And how light or dark the grey would be depends on the value of the original color.

Note that these three attributes - hue, value, and chroma - are all separate; you can have an intense light pink or an intense dark pink, a dull light pink or a dull dark pink, an intense dark blue, a dull medium purple, etc.

To read more about color and its practical applications: 

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2014/12/want-to-use-color-in-your-home-learn_93.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2014/12/using-color-in-your-home-getting.html

https://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2014/12/vincent-van-goghs-irises-shows-how-to.html

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Image credits (top) https://www.pexels.com/photo/color-shade-samples-276267/

second image is my much less professional photograph

Odilon Redon Uses Color to Make a Monster Gentle in His Painting of Cyclops

French Post-Impressionist Bertrand-Jean "Odilon" Redon (1840-1916) created works that were very fanciful and sometimes a little creepy (look up his bio on Wikipedia for a sampling), but my favorite picture of his is from 1914, just two years before his death, entitled "The Cyclops". We probably know the cyclops best from the Greek tales of Odysseus (The Odyssey, by Homer): he was a horrible, one-eyed giant who lived on an island and ate human flesh. Any sailors unwise enough to sail too close would be devoured!

But the cyclops had a softer side; he was madly in love with the sea nymph Galatea. She did not return his affection, and as can be imagined, that did not go well. But while he was besotted by Galatea, the cyclops became gentle, attempting to groom his wild hair and beard and give up his cannibalistic ways, only waving to passing sailors, rather than trying to snack on them. It is this gentle side that Odilon Redon captures in his painting, in which the cyclops, taller than a mountain, gazes down upon the nymph Galatea, napping among the flowers in the foreground.

How does an artist like Redon convey softness in his portrayal of a giant, one-eyed monster? Simple: he chose the appropriate colors. Notice how the soft pastel shades of the flowers are echoed throughout the whole painting, creating a calming, pretty effect. The loose brushstrokes of the Impressionist style also provide a kind of "soft focus" that downplays any monstrous characteristics, and last but not least, Redon rises above the expression-related challenges of one giant eye and masterfully uses the wistful tilt of the cyclops's head to convey all the feeling that needs to be conveyed. This is truly a masterpiece, and I hope you like this painting and see the appeal, despite the rather strange subject matter.

Image from WikiPaintings.org www.wikipaintings.org/en/odilon-redon/the-cyclops
Click the painting to enlarge for detail!

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Using Color in Your Home: Getting Started with Color, Part Two: Get to Know Your Color

Now that we have the basics out of the way (see http://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2014/12/want-to-use-color-in-your-home-learn_93.html ), let's discuss how to get started actually getting color into your home. How much is appropriate? Is there a way to dip a toe in the color pool without going too deep?

When getting started, be patient. Don't just grab a swatch and decide you need 5 gallons of Passionfruit Sunrise, stat! First of all, don't ever just pick one color swatch. Take at least three (the kind that has a gradation of lighter and darker shades of the same color is best), and take them home with you. Look at them at your house, with your stuff. If your furniture clashes horribly with Passionfruit and you don't find this out until the whole place is drenched in it, that is not going to be happy times. Also note that the store's lighting is likely to be different from that in your home (as they say, "measure twice, cut once"). The paint store is not going to give you the stinkeye for taking a half dozen swatches; they will probably breathe a sigh of relief that you are less likely to return in tears, demanding your money back.

Once you have selected a color that seems to be the best fit, get a better idea how the paint will look by returning to the store and asking for a sample. Use interior latex; oil-based paints and the solvents required to clean up after them are extremely smelly and not very good for you at all. Most stores will mix a small amount of color for a reasonable price; this should be enough for you to paint a decently-sized square on the wall. Be aware that paint can appear lighter or darker while it is wet. Allow your paint to dry overnight, which will "cure" it so that the finished color will be apparent. Please note that if you are using a new color that is significantly lighter or darker than the current wall color, you will need at least two coats (probably more in the case of light-over-dark), so you should paint as many coats as necessary on your sample area, as well.

If you are a bit more sure about the color, you can buy a quart and paint one wall. If you love the color but think the shade would be too overwhelming all over the room, you can leave that wall as an "accent wall" and get the next shade or two lighter for the other walls. Accent walls are commonly used to add interest to a room, creating a focal point to draw the eye, so choose a wall that would be a good place to display some prized artwork or furniture (the wall with the fireplace would also make a good accent wall, as that is already a natural focal point). You can even use color for one wall and leave everything else white.

If you aren't yet ready to commit to wall color, start small and easy; you don't have to make the leap to an entire honeydew-colored sitting room. Just invest in some green accessories: a few throw pillows, maybe a lamp. This will also help you satisfy your color jones if you are renting and your landlord won't let you paint. So, get a little color happening in your surroundings, and don't get stressed--decorating is supposed to be fun!

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Image from freepik  http://www.freepik.com/free-photo/color-swatches_390574.htm

Want to Use Color in Your Home? Learn the Basics

It's no surprise that folks get bored with the cookie-cutter neutral color scheme favored by builders of low- and middle-income housing, especially when we see that upscale builders use custom color for their clients, rather than dishing out the same eggshell-finish off-white that everyone in the starter-home subdivision got. There's something luxurious about a personalized color scheme, but some of us are leery of diving in, fearful that we may spend hours (not to mention some hard-earned money!) trying to make our dining room 'posh plum' and ending up with 'Prince's-pantsuit purple', which is perhaps going to thrill your 11-year-old, but might not bring the right feel to your dinner party for the boss and her husband.

How is a nervous neophyte to start? First of all, it is necessary to understand that color has three characteristics: hue, value, and chroma. Hue is the easy one: it is basically what color it is, such as red, blue, chartreuse, "Regal Chariot", "Sandy Toes", or whatever terribly clever name the paint store came up with. Value refers to the lightness or darkness of a color. High-value colors are the pale ones; dark colors have low values. These are also referred to as high-key or low-key color schemes. There's no 'medium-key', as far as I know, but you can of course use colors that are mid-range in value. For the color-shy, my best piece of advice when it comes to value is this: When in doubt, go a shade or two lighter. Even when you are pretty sure, go one shade lighter, because a color that looks darling on a teeny paint swatch in the store is gonna be a whole different critter on your entire wall at home.

The third characteristic of color--and this is what can trip up a new user of color in the home--is chroma. This refers to the intensity of the color. Bright colors are great as accents, but as wall colors, they can be quite overpowering, such as the purple-pantsuit dining room. So, what you want is a color that is willing to be in the background--which is where the walls are, right? Chose less intense, grayer versions of the color you like. If you are not sure what a low-chroma, or grayer, version of the color is, check for clues in the name, like "dusty" or "dusky", and ask the salesperson for help. Paint people are extremely knowledgeable about color, and of course they are happy to help you. Good luck!

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Image from Pixabay http://pixabay.com/en/color-fan-color-picker-color-497004/