Value in colour
Yellow is naturally light and violet is naturally dark at full strength. When you paint in colour, the value of each patch matters as much as its hue. A portrait can use green in the shadows and still read perfectly, as long as the values are right.
Step by step
- Squint and ask of every patch: is it lighter or darker than the one next to it?
- Learn the natural value of each paint straight from the tube; yellows are light, ultramarine and alizarin are dark.
- To lighten: add white (makes it cooler and less intense — a tint), or in watercolour add water. You can also lighten with a lighter neighbouring hue, such as yellow into orange.
- To darken: add a darker colour of similar hue, or its complement, rather than reaching straight for black, which can deaden many colours.
- Test value with a greyscale photo of your palette, or by entering the colour in the colour tool on this site.
- Keep a value plan from your thumbnail and match colours to it.
Common mistakes
- Choosing a colour you like but at the wrong value, which flattens the form.
- Darkening everything with black.
- Making all colours equally saturated, so value structure gets lost.
Practice exercise
Paint a simple still life twice: once in greys, once in colour, matching the values of the first version.