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The Color System Every Artist Should Know (But Few Do)
Published about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Artists often rely on color names like olive, salmon, or cream, what are you trying do with all that?... a gourmet dish? Despite the fact that it is silly, those color names are vague, imprecise, and subjective. What one person calls “olive,” another might call “khaki.”
Instead of describing colors through comparisons or arbitrary names, wouldn’t it be better to have a system that is objective, measurable, and universal?
Albert H. Munsell (American, 1858-1918)
That’s exactly what Albert H. Munsell set out to do over a century ago. The Munsell Color System doesn’t start with “primaries” or poetic names. Instead, it’s based on the entire range of colors humans can actually perceive, organized scientifically.
Let’s break it down.
The Color System Every Artist Should Know
1. Three Color Scales in a Sphere
Munsell explained that every color can be defined by three measurable qualities:
Hue (H): the type of color — red, yellow, green, blue, purple.
Value (V): how light or dark the color is, from white at the top to black at the bottom.
Chroma (C): the intensity or purity of the color, from dull gray in the center to vivid on the outside.
Munsell asked us to imagine a sphere:
At the north pole: pure white.
At the south pole: pure black.
Around the equator: the hues (red, yellow, green, blue, purple), blending smoothly into one another.
Now, imagine each hue stretching upward toward white and downward toward black — this gives us the value scale.
Then, picture each color moving inward toward gray, or outward toward pure vividness — this gives us the chroma scale.
Every color we see can be located by these three coordinates: Hue, Value, and Chroma. It’s like giving each color an exact “address” in the color sphere.
Any color can be precisely defined by its Munsell Notation, written as H V/C (e.g., 5R 5/10 is a pure Red at middle value).
2. The Color Tree: Adapting the Sphere to Pigments
In theory, if all pigments were equally strong, we would have a perfect color sphere. But in reality, pigments are unequal.
For example: Vermilion red is much stronger than its complement, Viridian green. You can see this imbalance when mixing paints — some colors dominate.
To reflect this, Munsell created the Color Tree - it’s just like the sphere but it’s crooked and uneven:
A physical Model of the Munsell Color Tree (simplified)
Imagine a vertical trunk of neutral grays (from black to white).
From this trunk, branches extend outward in different hues.
Some branches are long (strong pigments like red). Others are short (weaker pigments like certain greens).
The farther out on a branch, the more intense the chroma.
The tree is more realistic than the sphere because it accounts for the limitations of real pigments.
3. Why Munsell Still Matters Today
At first glance, the Munsell System may seem like an outdated tool from the early 1900s. But it’s still hugely relevant for artists learning color.
It teaches you to separate a color into its three components (Hue, Value, and Chroma). This separation is crucial because, in reality, a bright yellow and a dark blue have very different values, which a simple color wheel doesn't clearly illustrate.
It also enables predictable mixing: Instead of relying on subjective color names, the numerical notation allows for a precise "map" of color. When mixing, you are effectively navigating the three-dimensional color space:
To make a color darker or lighter, you adjust the Value.
To make a color more vibrant or more muted, you adjust the Chroma.
To change the color family, you adjust the Hue.
Learning how to see color this way replaces guesswork.
Final Thoughts:
The beauty of the Munsell System is that it moves us past vague descriptions and into clarity.
Instead of asking, “Does this look more salmon or coral?” we can answer, “It’s a red hue, medium-light value, and low chroma.”
That shift makes you a better observer, and a better painter.
So next time you pick up your brush, remember: you’re not just mixing random pigments—you’re navigating a three-dimensional map of color.
Free Art Newsletter filled with the best oil painting and drawing tips, directly from the Atelier tradition. Timeless techniques to enjoy weekly to grow and inspire.
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