The New York Institute of Art and Design offers online jewelry making classes and because we do, we like to provide free tips for aspiring designers. Enjoy!
As aspiring jewelry designers, a thorough understanding of color is something crucial to your growing success in the industry. One simple way to adjust the overall look of any piece is to alter the intensity of the shaded materials you use. If you’re unsure what we mean when we refer to intensity, here are some things to remember when you’re trying to accurately describe what you’re looking for:
- If white is added to a hue, it becomes lighter in value but the hue itself does not change.
- If black is added to the same hue it becomes darker in value, but again the hue has not changed.
- Knowing the above two things, use the word “value” when you are describing the relative lightness or darkness of a hue.
- A tint is a hue that has been lightened with white. So a value of a hue that is tinted is lighter than the original hue.
- A shade is a hue that has been darkened with black or brown. So the value of a hue that has been “shaded” is therefore darker than the aforementioned original hue.
- Intensity can be said to refer to the “purity” of a hue. A color is at its most intense when nothing has been added to the pure hue.
Want to learn more? The New York Institute of Art and Design offers online jewelry making classes that can teach you how to create and sell your own unique line of jewelry.. Request your free course catalog today!
