Neutral Colors

Browns, tans, grays, black, and white are neutral colors. They are also referred to as earth tones. When equal parts of two complementary colors are mixed, a gray or brown is made. When you mix all three primary colors together, what color do you think you get?

Click here to learn more about neutral colors.

Monochromatic Colors

A monochromatic scheme is a color scheme that contains tints and shades of only one color. "Mono" means one, and "chroma" means color - one color.

A tint is a color with white added to it. Tints are the pastel versions of a color. Pink and lavender are examples of tints.

A shade is a color with black mixed to it. Examples of shades include navy blue and maroon.

Value refers to the lightness or darkness of a color. Tints are light values of a color and shades are dark values of a color.

Click on the dinosaur to practice creating tints and shades.

Choose the paintbrush to learn about how to create different tints and shades when creating a drawing.

 

Click on the paintbrush to see a monochromatic painting by artist Pablo Picasso. There  is an interesting poem about the painting at the bottom of the page. What type of feeling  does the artist express with these colors? Try to match tints and shades of a color by going to this activity! Let's review some of the color schemes and color vocabulary we have learned.