Use Nature as Your Color Palette
(Page 2 of 4)
January/February 2002
By Deborah Coburn
Pay Attention to Nearby Colors
RELATED CONTENT
Confused by the kaleidoscopic choices of color as you redecorate? With just five easy steps, you ca...
This year, it's hot to color it “green.”...
Straw bale and clay homes give a low-income area in Mexico a sense of community....
Nature’s colors are affected by their proximity to other colors and by the light in which we see them. Putting two colors together changes the way each looks in isolation. A neutral gray can appear warm against a cool blue or cool against a warm rust. The most dynamic of all combinations are complementary colors. Nothing makes a green greener than being close to red.
Color Scheming
Color has four properties: hue, value, intensity, and temperature.
Hue is just another word for color. Red, blue, lime green—all are hues.
Value is the lightness or darkness. Pink is a light value of red, rose a medium value, and burgundy a dark value.
Intensity or chroma is a color’s purity or strength—its brightness or dullness. High-intensity colors are vivid, whereas low-intensity colors are quiet and restful. As a color loses chroma, becoming less intense, it is said to be neutralized. Most browns are dark-value, low-intensity versions of warm colors. The true neutrals are white, black, and gray.
Temperature refers to warmth or coolness. Yellows, reds, and oranges are warm colors and are considered to advance because they appear to move toward the viewer. Cool greens, blues, and violets are known as receding colors because they seem to be farther away.
Colors harmonize when relationships of similar hues, values, and intensities create unity. Colors that are close on the color wheel are called analogous and are always harmonious. Colors opposite each other on the color wheel contrast and are known as complementary. Use contrasting colors for schemes that create excitement. For balance, distribute colors in proportions that produce an aesthetically pleasing whole.
Think About Color in Layers
As you look at a scene in nature, see how she has layered color. In a desert landscape, for example, the soil’s sandy tones are the base color that creates the overall effect. If you love desert colors, you may select a sandy color for your room’s walls. Against this background, nature uses foreground colors such as the grayed greens of cactus and the reddish browns of bark. Select from these colors for the furnishings.
Finally, nature uses accent colors, which often contrast with the foreground to stimulate liveliness. How about the bright pink of a cactus flower for pillows?