Home Value - Learn About Your Colors With This Exploration

At some point during the course of learning to paint, you'll likely run across the notion of 'Home Value'. It is a bit of an obscure idea that but has value in getting to know the colors you work with.

Home Value is a measure that connects two of the Characteristics of Color : Value and Chroma.

Think Bright-Dull and Light-Dark

Home Value is the level of light or dark that an individual paint color has when at highest chroma, or at its brightest. So, more simply put, Chroma can be thought of as an indication of brightness or dullness, while value measures lightness and darkness. Home Value is a measurement of Value with Chroma at its highest.

This idea is somewhat more of a theoretical than practical measurement since the relationships - contrasts and harmonies - within the painting are more important than absolute characteristics.

Two Reasons To Understand Home Value

But there are good reasons to understand the Home Value of the colors you use.

First, knowing how bright a color can be is important. brightness, or chroma, is one of the aspects of color that can be included in harmony or contrast with others. Bright colors tend to create contrast, especially if two bright hues are placed near each other. Contrast is also created when a bright Hue is placed near another that is dull. It will be difficult to set up chroma contrasts or harmonies without understanding the peak chroma and range of dull versions available through a range of values - from light to dark.

Second, it is important to understand that Chroma will automatically be reduced when moving away from the home value in either direction - lighter or darker. In essence, the hue will become more dull, as it moves away from home value. If a bright hue is needed, it is good to know what kind of saturation is needed and what kind of value will result.

The best way to get to know the home value of your colors is by creating a chroma-value chart. This is a combination of a value scale and color chart. The color chart part of this exercise really focuses on changes in chroma at each value step.

Explore Your Colors Home Value

The exercise below explores only the chroma changes that happen as the hue is lightened. Since chroma is a complex concept, it is often not covered in classes. So, it may be unfamiliar.  This work comes out best when done with care and a real consciousness. It also requires the use of a 9-step Value Scale - make sure you have one available to help identify, initially, the home value and then each lighter value step in order. The color chart in the video actually has an integrated value scale row, added before analyzing the home value of the color.