More Watercolor Terms

Color Basics in a Nutshell

QUESTION: Susie, what's the definition of hue vs color? Are they the same? Thanks! Sally K.

SUSIE'S REPLY: Hi Sally! Simply speaking yes, they are the same.
Here is a list of definitions of commonly used terms as they relate to watercolor.

• Hue -- The name of a color, such as red, blue, yellow, green, orange, etc.
• Intensity -- The strength, brightness, or purity of a color; its chroma.
• Saturation -- The measure of brilliance or purity of a color.
• Value -- The lightness or darkness of a color; pure colors will vary greatly in value.
• Temperature -- The warmth or coolness of a color; also relative terms in comparison to other colors in context.
• Primary Colors are those hues that cannot be mixed from any other colors-- red, yellow, and blue. From these primaries, most other colors can be mixed.
• Secondary Colors are the resulting hues of mixing two prima ries in equal amounts.
  (R+Y =Orange, Y+B=Green, B+R=Purple)
• Intermediate Colors are products of mixing one primary and a secondary.
  (R+O=Red-Orange, Y+O=Yellow-Orange, etc.)
• Tertiary Colors are products of mixing two secondary colors.
  (O+G, O+P, G+P, etc)
• Complementary Colors are two hues directly opposite each other on the color wheel.
  Complement to a primary color is the combination of other two primaries.
  Complement to Red is Green (Y+B),
  to Yellow is Purple (R+B),
  to Blue is Orange (R+Y).
• Neutral Hues are the results of combining all three primaries in various amounts, thus neutralizing the intensity and saturation of a hue. Combining a primary with its complement results in a neutral hue.

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