Tints, Shades & Tones

Hey Everyone, welcome back to Colourful Friday.

Last week I talked about warm and cool colours, this week I am going to delve a bit deeper into colour and talk about adding white, black and grey to pure colours. By adding either white, black and grey to a pure colour a tint, tone or shade is created. You may also note that these three make up the achromatic colour scheme.

What is a tint?

A tint is produced by adding white to any pure colour. By adding the white the pure colour is softened and made lighter. Depending on the amount of white added will depend on how light the pure colour becomes.

An example of tints would be pastels such as baby blue, soft pink, light yellow or green. These light colours are definitely associated with newborn babies.

In Fabric

A soft pastel palette.

A soft pastel palette.

In Nature

A soft pink rose.

A soft pink rose.

What is a shade?

A shade is produced by adding black to any pure colour. By adding the black the pure colour is made darker.  Depending on the amount of black added will depend on how dark the pure colour becomes.

An example of shades would be navy, chocolate brown, forest green and deep purple. These dark colours are often associated with night.

In Fabric

A palette of dark colours.

A palette of dark colours.

In Nature

A sunset somewhere in Australia.

A sunset somewhere in Australia.

What is a tone?

A tone is produced by adding grey to any pure colour. By adding the grey to a pure colour the colour is subdued or made duller. Grey can also be added to a tinted or shaded colour as well created a subdued version of the light or dark fabric.

An example of tones would be steel blue or murky blue. These colours often appear muddy in appearance. These colours are often associated with winter as they are dull and subdued.

In Fabric

A palette of tones - fabrics with grey added.

A palette of tones – fabrics with grey added.

In Nature

A snowy day with no sun has a grey undertone.

A snowy day with no sun has a grey undertone.

Tints and shades are used to create values within colours. A value of a colour is defined by its degree of lightness or darkness.

Want to learn more about value then tune in next week To Colourful Friday to learn all about value and the importance it has in creating stunning quilts and art work.

Happy Quilting!

Jen Transparent Signature

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