So many emerging artisits I hear from have difficulties reading and translating color. By reading I mean seeing the hue, its value and its saturation (intensity/chroma), and by
translating I mean knowing how to mix what you've read.
Let's give that a workout. What colors do you read within the outlined squares in this photo? Begin with the color in box #1.
If your answer is yellow ochre or raw umber, you have pointed to the tube color that might yield what you are seeing, but that is not reading the color itself. The tube color is only a possibility for getting that color. This
is a hit/miss approach to mixing color, especially early in your experience with painting.
To really pinpoint the color, look for which hue you are seeing at what value and at what saturation. Using the traditional hue names (found on the traditional color wheel) rather than generic color names such as magenta or olive or brown also is important for
controlling your color mixtures.
Those hue names do not change when the saturation (intensity/chroma) changes. There is only less of them view visible. De-saturating subtracts the visible hue.
Neither does the hue name change when it becomes lighter or darker.
ANALYSIS
Below is what ArtRage's color reader found for the color of block # 1.
The hue is yellow orange. It is a low saturation and in the light value range. I have shown you the saturation range of yellow orange in that value range.
YOUR TURN
Begin with block two. Detect its hue according to where it would fall on the color wheel. Name its degree of saturation and its value range. Answers are at the bottom of this post.
