A Bit of Theory – Part 1: Munsell’s Colour Model

Colour analysis is based on scientific theory - it has sound backing and isn’t a "fluffy" concept as some people may suggest. After first learning of this, I became even more intrigued with the subject.

The principles are based on Munsell’s colour theory. Albert H Munsell (1858-1918), was an American painter and teacher of art. He is famous for developing (around 1900) the first widely-accepted colour order system – an accurate system for numerically describing colours. 

Munsell saw colour in relationship to other colours, which led him to develop his 3D colour model – often referred to as Munsell’s Colour Tree. 

Munsell’s model describes colour by reference to three variables. These are its:

1 Hue –  the name of the colour itself i.e.  red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple.  Munsell arranged these colours in a circle, and each hue (colour) represents a branch of the tree

2 Value – how light or dark the colour is on a scale from white to black i.e the lightness or darkness of a given hue. Munsell assigned a value of 0 for pure black, through to 10 for pure white, with shades of grey from light (almost white) to dark (almost black), and mid-range greys in-between. This scale represents the vertical “trunk” of the tree, at the centre of the model.

3 Chroma – often described as the brightness, saturation, or clearness of colour. Basically it is the brilliance or “colourfulness” of the colour. Along the branches of the tree, the chroma is brightest (most colourful) at the outer edges of each branch. It becomes softer/ more greyed – as you move along the branch towards the centre.

There is no exact upper limit to chroma – some colours (hues) have very high chroma levels (for instance red), whereas others much less i.e blue. So, if you imagine every possible colour arranged in a 3D model according to hue, value and chroma (.... or colour, lightness or darkness, and colourfulness) – you would end up with a shape which may be described as something like a distorted rugby ball (.... or a speed cyclist’s helmit :-) ), such as this:

If we pick one colour, say the green from the top diagram - there will be lighter versions of that green as white is added, progressing vertically upwards on the model; and darker versions as black is added moving vertically downwards. The green will be at it's most colourful  at the outer perimeter, however, as grey is slowly added, it will become progressively softer, less colourful, more greyed (muted) moving towards the centre. 

It’s useful to have feel for  Munsell's colour model, as this helps to understand the whole basis behind seasonal colour analysis, the characteristics of the different seasonal categories, plus the colour palettes (... hence best colours) which are suited to each type.

I’ll cover how the Munsell model has been used as the basis for colour analysis in a separate post (see A Little Bit More Theory; Part 2 - Munsell Meets Colour Analysis for the next instalment).