Properties of Colors

Saturation / Intensity

The most important property of color is its ‘level of saturation’ .The saturation can be described as the process of lowering of color. Lowering saturation can be achieved by the mixing of grey of a similar value. As more grey is added the color loses its saturation eventually getting to a stage where pure grey is made.

                               Image Source-  www.artapprenticeonline.com

When we add grey to a color than it is called as ‘tone’- a less saturated version of the color. The saturation of a color can be decreased by mixing it with its complementary color, resulting in a muddy, neutralized version.

To increase the saturation of the color we have to add the more of the same color, displaying greys and neutral elements, or adding an already more saturated version of the same color.

Changing colors and saturation simultaneously

The value of the a color is changed, as mentioned above, by adding white , black or grey, to produce tints, shades and tones. By changing the value we can also change the saturation level of the color.