The 12-Hue Color Circle and How Color is Altered

Introduction

Art gallery with Mark Rothko paintings on white walls and a wooden bench in the center of the room.

© Paintings by Mark Rothko on view at the National Gallery of Art

The paintings by Mark Rothko provide excellent examples of how color is altered as well as the subtleties of color.

A Mark Rothko painting with an orange rectangle on top and a yellow rectangle below, blending at the edges.

© Mark Rothko, Orange and Tan, 1954

Discovery of relationships, mediated by the eye and brain, between color agents and color effects in man, is a major concern of the artist. Visual, mental and spiritual phenomena are inter-related in the realm of color and the color arts.

– Johannes Itten, from The Art of Color

Read the following discussion about the 12-Hue Color Circle and how the appearance of color can be altered by light as you begin working on the upcoming Image-Making Assignment.

Connection

Understanding the terms and concepts of the 12-Hue Color Circle and How Color Is Altered, including Hue, Tint, Tone, Shade, Saturation and Luminance/Value, with your approach to photography will be helpful towards successfully completing the following upcoming assignments:

5.9 | The Art and Interactions of Color and Grayscale (Graded Quiz)
6.6 | Proof of Existence (Graded Image-Making Assignment)

12-Hue Color Circle

A 12-hue color circle showing primary, secondary, and tertiary colors.

Primary Colors

Yellow | Red | Blue

Secondary Colors

Orange (Yellow + Red) | Violet (Red + Blue) | Green (Blue + Yellow)

Tertiary Colors

Tertiary Colors are colors made by combining a secondary color with a primary color.

As the Color Circle expands outward, subsequent colors are made by colors next to each other.

How Color is Altered

Color wheel illustrating hues, tints (hue + white), tones (hue + grey), and shades (hue + black).

Adobe Interactive Color Wheel

Hue

Name of Any Color on Color Wheel (Pure Color and Variations)

A gradient of red hues ranging from light to dark, showing the variations in the shade of red.

Tint

Hue + White = Lightening the Color

A gradient of red hues lightening towards white, showing the variations in the tint of red.

Tone

Hue + Gray (Mixture of Black + White) = Subtler Versions of Hue

A gradient of red hues lightening towards gray, showing the variations in the tone of red.

Shade

Hue + Black = Darkening a Color

A gradient of red hues darkening towards black, showing the variations in the shade of red.

Saturation

Intensity or Purity of a Color

A gradient showing the saturation levels of red, transitioning from gray (desaturated) to pure red (fully saturated).

< Decreased Saturation Increased Saturation >

Luminance / Value

Amount of Lightness/Darkness in a Color

A gradient showing luminance levels of red, transitioning from light red to dark red.

< Lighter Darker >