JWD Publishing Blog

All colors in this photo  are tones—even the dark ones. 

To see how tones are created—and to get a sense of what they’re all about—up close and personal, I invite you to have a paint-play day—painting tones from your favorite colors. Doing so will expand your color knowledge exponentially. In fact, if you give yourself a day to play with paint, you will be so happy with your new-found knowledge and color understanding.

Alas, consider inviting a few of your friends over to paint tones from  their own favorite colors. Then you can all share each other’s findings. You all will find it’s a very worthwhile day. If possible, plan your painting day within the next two weeks.

Here are the items you will need to paint your own beautiful toned hues: 

PAINTS:  Purchase 3  pure-color tubes of acrylic paint (Liquitex or some other brand). If it suits you, choose one color from the green-blue section of the color wheel (chartreuse through blue-violet). Select another pure color from the red to violet section of the color wheel. Also, choose a pure color from the yellow to red-orange section of the color wheel. This will give you three distinctly different colors with which to paint. If you have other preferences, go with your instincts. Also, if you want to paint with more than three colors, feel free to add more colors. The more you paint tones from other colors, the greater your experience will be—and your color repertoire will be expanded.

Besides your chosen pure colors, you will need a large tube of Neutral Gray 5 (middle value) paint, along with Titanium White and Mars Black.

OTHER ITEMS YOU WILL NEED ARE:  You will need at least 2 packages of unlined 3″ x 5″ index cards, 1 or 2 paint brushes, a few large sheets of paper to protect your work surface, coffee stirrers, paper towels or a rags for cleaning brushes, water, paint containers, and toothpicks. Also, you will need construction paper (white and/or black) or tag-board, glue stick, cutting tools (e.g. rotary cutter, cutting board, and ruler).

All hues in this reflection are toned.

Paint Session 1

1. Choose one pure color to begin. Place 1-2 tablespoons of this paint in a small container. Add a few drops of water to the paint, so the paint is of good spreading consistency. Be cautious, as you do not want the paint to be watery. Paint an index card with this paint. Clean the paint brush.

2. Using a toothpick or coffee stirrer, add a drop of gray paint to your pure-color paint. Blend thoroughly with a stirring utensil. Then paint an index card with this new color. Clean the paint brush with water and dry.

3. Continue adding a small bit of gray to the blended paint and painting an index card after each addition of gray paint. As you continue mixing gray into the paint mixture, add just enough in each step to make nice even steps.

4. Continue blending the gray paint into the mixture until your blended paint appears to be gray with a slight hint of the original color.

5.  Paint 2 index cards with the gray paint. You will be cutting strips from these cards for your toned-color scales.

6. Set the painted cards aside to dry. Once dried, gather in order of painting, place in a pile, and place a heavy book on top of the pile.

7.  Wash up everything and take a break before the next paint session.

The only color scale in this photo is the tone scale.

 Paint Session 2

1.  In this session, you will create a tinted hue from your pure color and then create tones from this tint. Begin by placing approximately 2 tablespoons of Titanium White in your painting bowl.  Add a few drops of water to make the paint a good spreading mixture.

2.  Add  a small amount of your pure color into the Titanium White paint. Mix enough of your pure color to make a tint that you really love. This will be the tinted hue that you will create tones from.  (Don’t make your tinted color too close to the pure color; make it light enough that you can see the difference between the tint and the pure hue.)

3. With a toothpick add a drop of gray paint to your tinted paint. Blend thoroughly with a stirring utensil. Then paint an index card with this new color. Clean the paint brush.

4. Continue adding gray to the blended paint and painting an index card after each mixing. As you continue, add enough gray each time to make evenly spaced toned color steps.

5. Continue blending the gray paint into the mixture until your blended paint appears to be gray with a hint of the original color.

6.  Set the painted cards aside to dry. Once dried, gather in order of painting, place in a pile, and place a heavy book on top of the pile.

7.  Wash up everything and take a break before the next paint session.

 The leaf colors in this photo are beautifully toned.  Aren’t these hues amazing for leaves?

Paint Session 3

1.  In this session, you will create a shaded hue from your pure color and then create tones from this shade. Begin by placing approximately 2 tablespoons of  your selected pure color in your painting bowl.  Add a few drops of water to make the paint a good spreading mixture.

2.  Add  a small amount of Mars Black to your pure color. Slowly add black to the mixture until you see a yummy shade that you love. This will be the shaded hue that you will create tones from.  (Don’t make your shade too close to black.)

3. With a toothpick or coffee stirrer, add a drop of gray paint to your shaded paint. Blend thoroughly with a stirring utensil. Then paint an index card with this new color. This will  be your first toned hue from your shade. Clean the paint brush.

4. Continue adding gray to the blended paint and painting an index card after each mixing. As you paint, add enough gray each time to make evenly spaced toned color steps.

5. Continue blending the gray paint into the mixture until your blended paint appears to be gray with a hint of the original color.

6.  Set the painted cards aside to dry. Once dried, gather in order of painting, place in a pile, and place a heavy book on top of the pile.

7.  Wash up everything and take a break before the next paint session.

Painting Tones from Your Other Selected Pure Colors

Repeat these three painting sessions with your other two selected pure colors.

The colors in this photo are all toned. Some are more grayed than others.

Finishing Your Tone Scales

1.  Once the painted index cards are dried and flattened, cut a 1/2-inch strip off of the short end of each index card. Also, cut your gray index card into 1/2″ strips (you will need 9 strips).

2.  With glue-stick or some other adhesive, place the first group of colored  strips in a column on a piece of construction paper or tag board (white or black), moving from the pure color through the tones to gray. When placing the strips onto the paper, overlap them slightly, so there is no background paper showing between the strips.

3.  Repeat this process for both the tint/tone scale and the shade/tone scale. The number of hues in your selected paints’ tone scales will depend on the amount of steps you painted. They do not need to be equal to one another.

4.  If you painted with friends, give each of your friends one strip from each of your index cards. By working together, you will expand your color references and knowledge. Besides, it’s so much fun to have a paint day with friends.

Congratulations!

After you have created these various tone scales, stand back and look at them.  Aren’t they beautiful?  Isn’t it amazing how many different hues you have created while painting these tones? Wasn’t it fun? What’s especially exciting is that you now have a greater understanding of how a tone is made and which pure color it comes from. This understanding helps us to make better choices when selecting partnering colors for an upcoming project.

Happy Coloring!

Joen

Text, illustrations, and photography copyright   © Joen Wolfrom    The copyright of each artwork shown remains with its  creator.

Joen is a color enthusiast who teaches and lectures on color. She has written three color books: Color Play, Visual Coloring, and The Magical Effects of Color. Her Studio Color Wheel is used to illustrate color concepts in many of these blog posts. She is also the designer of the 3-in-1 Color Tool. Her new book Adventures in Designis now available. Joen’s newest design tool, the Magic Design-Ratio Tool is also available. All books and products are published by C & T Publishing.