Colour mixing: tone and value

There are five main value permutations of colour: white, light, mid, dark and black. The main properties of any colour mix are saturation, tone and value. In any one given situation of colour mixing, there will be elements of one or all of these properties happening, often at the same time, so it is important to know just what you are dealing with when you are mixing.

To make things easier, begin by recognising the colour category that you are working with, for example if you are working with green, decide what type of green it is, such as blue-green, green or yellow-green. The categories are defined by primary, secondary and tertiary colours, all of which can be found on a colour wheel – but for the purposes of this article they are yellowgreen, yellow, yellow-orange, orange, red-orange, red, red-violet, violet, blue-violet, blue, blue-green and green. As you become more accustomed to recognising categories, it