Creating Exceptions: Tints and Shades
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I like exceptions to the rules. Things that stand out because of the uniqueness of their beauty, vitality, or panache.
I came across one of many “natural orders for color harmony” in "Creative Color" by Faber Birren. He wrote of I. H. Godlove’s principle that tints of pure colors which are normally light in value (orange, yellow-orange, yellow, yellow-green) look best with shades of pure colors which are normally dark in value (purple, violet, blue).
To refresh your memory: tints are pure colors with white added to them; shades are pure colors with black added to them; value refers to a color’s lightness or darkness. (See the first image below on the left.)
When I read principles like this I am compelled to test them, with a desire to find the exceptions, or, hopefully, many exceptions!
Surprisingly, I found this principle to be very true. (See the center image and image on the right.)
Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised because nature follows this principle closely, especially in her flowers. And the principle speaks to a natural progression: lighter lights harmonize with darker darks. Seems obvious.
I scoured photos of flowers, bird, tropical fish. Yep - they followed suit.
I still wasn’t satisfied. How can I push this, I wondered, and where are the exceptions?
I know there’s a point somewhere between natural order and tension that is ripe with possibilities. Someplace between the convergence of “aha!” and “yuck!”. There, in that paper-thin slice of between, I sought to find or create exceptions to the natural ordering of tints and shades.
For the background shade of high-value color I began with a color of medium value: red. I figured red would give me the most possibilities for creating a harmony contrary to Godlove’s (and nature’s) principle. I also tried shades of yellow-green and orange, which are more in keeping with the rules of the principle we are discussing here. On these backgrounds I placed tints of blue and purple.
Because color is subjective and so very personal, there’s no definitive way to declare whether I was successful or not. I know what works for me. See what works for you by clicking the link below:
Click here....
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