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2012

june days
• hue, value, chroma “bingo!”

march days
• sacré bleu:
a comedy d'art

ARCHIVE
2011
dec days
color of scotch whisky

sept days
local fibers, cotton and dyes

apr days
flower extravaganza from vimeo

mar days
• harris tweed: optical color blend

feb days
• van gogh's tarnished paints

jan days
• brion gysin's dreammachine

ARCHIVE
2010
dec days

nov days
• surplus store camouflage gear

sept days

aug days
• greener, whiter, redder vegetables

july days
theosophists: color symbolism / part 1

june days
• french & american recycled colored plastic

may days
• gray walk through sunny oakland

april days
• color concept theory widgets & apps

mar days
• red:
a portrait of a artist rothko

feb days
• talking
heads as figure/ground

jan days
• tanja's
black light dance party

ARCHIVE
2009

dec days
• tootsie roll pop wrappers colors & flavors

nov days
• stephen vitiello's four color sound

oct days
• atmospheric perspective

sept days
• a rainbow
of antioxidants
colors

aug days
• floor stain colorants

jul days
• minimal colors

jun days
• wildflowers cataloged by color

may days
• tennis court colors

apr days
• morandi's neutral colors

mar days
• grid colorists

feb days
• black as
film noir

jan days
• flood of toxic minerals used in paints

ARCHIVE
2008

dec days
• comple-mentary
colors

nov days
• kettle korn
packaging color change

oct days
• green fluorescent protein

sept days
• red palms - not green

aug days
• blue tunes

jul days
• “blue” - textile museum

jun days
• “fiesta- ware”
colorants

may days
• “blue alchemy” hive gallery

apr days
• “sennelier” selecting
watercolours for travel

note: this blog was written originally for the Munsell Color System website. Here's a link to the posting especially for Munsell's Color Blog.

http://munsell.com/color-blog/color-theory-game-basics-carole-brown/

• hue, value, chroma “bingo!”

“Yell ‘Bingo’ as soon as you have all the chips in order - you’ll know when it’s right”,
I announced.

Were these gambling chips?

No. Was this at a casino?

No. In fact, the chips are from the workbook: “The Munsell Color System A Language for Color” and the place was the class-room on the last day of an eleven week college Color Theory course in San Francisco.

By the final week, students were well versed in all the important color theories from the Renaissance to the present including the Munsell Color System invented by the American painter and educator Albert Henry Munsell.

“Okay class,” I instructed, “break into teams of 4 and select one of the 10 color chip packs and get ready to organize your hues by value and chroma.” (The Munsell terms, Hue, Value and Chroma, were readily known by the class after having mixed and matched color schemes and color palettes throughout Quarter.)

Each team shakes out their selected Hue from their pack onto their graphed chart. “Make sure all the chips are there – the number is notated on the pack”, I warned. “Be careful, the chips are easily misplaced”.

“Don’t be dismayed by the jumble of color chips”, I cajoled. “First, sort out all the desaturated greens, the ones that are nearly achromatic. Next, build the left column as values, starting with darkest at the bottom. Be sure to place the chips on the X marked squares – and please do not glue them down”.

All four teams were sliding and slipping their selected chips around the graphed charts and the color patterns began to gel. In no time, each hue revealed a logical blend of values and chroma. The Green team was first to shout,“Bingo”. Soon after, almost all the teams echod “Bingo” – except for one team: the RB team was stuck.

“There must be a missing chip,” students observed. A careful count is made and, as notated on the chip pack, all 22 chips were there. One vigilent student caught the error: a chip was covering a blank square, not an X square. Quickly, students repositioned the chips to one the remaining X square. At last, the RB team yells, “Bingo”.