COLOR MATCHING

In order to match a color repeatedly and consistently you need to know some basic color theory.

To match a color you must know:
1) The basic Color Wheel. 
2) How Complementary Colors interact. 
3) And you must understand the three properties of color, which are Hue, Value and Chroma.

Here is a summary:

Basic Color Wheel

The color wheel with primary and secondary colors.

(The tertiary color wheel for advanced color wheel theory, but not necessary for most cases)

Basic Color Wheel:

http://ph-students.blogspot.com/p/basic-colors.html

Complementary Colors

 . . . are colors located opposite each other on the color wheel ( Red—Green, Blue—Orange, and Yellow-Purple). When complement are mixed together they produce an dulling effect on each color. Learning to dull colors is important because most things you will paint in nature are much duller than colors as they come straight out of the tube.

See Complementary Colors:

http://ph-students.blogspot.com/p/basic-colors.html

See what Complementary Colors look liked when they are mixed together.You don't need to do this exercise to learn how to color match.

http://ph-students.blogspot.com/p/basic-color.html

Hue Value Chroma

Hue 

is the color of something. And apple is Red. A banana is Yellow, a pickle is Green and the sky is Blue. 

Example: If you want to change the hue in a painting, you add a different color.

Value 

. . . is the lightness or darkness of a color compared to others. 

Examples:To make a color have a lighter value you would add white. To make a color have darker value you would add it’s complement.

Chroma (Also called Intensity, or saturation)

. . . is the colorfulness or the dullness of a color. 

Examples: If you had a dull red color and you want it to be brighter red, you would add more pure red. If you had a red that was too bright and you needed to make it duller, then you would add the complement of red, which is green.

See the Hue, Value Chroma page:

http://ph-students.blogspot.com/p/hue-value-chroma.html

How to match Colors

You will need color swatch cards. When using a color swatch card always make sure your swatch of color runs off the edge of the card. That way when you overlap them for comparison you will get the most accurate reading.

This example was easy; done in only three steps. Some color require more steps. The thing to remember is,  each time you overlay the new color swatch over the target color, ask yourself what needs to be adjusted. The Hue (color)? The Value (lightness or darkness), or Chroma (dullness or more color intensity?)?