A Color Notation by
A.H. Munsell is full of imagery, it presents to the reader such depth of
knowledge on the character of color. When reading this article it is hard to
not get focused by all the terms and meanings of such simple adjectives such as
light and dark. One thing hard to disagree with is that color is hard to define
and adequately describe. Early on in the article, Munsell gives the impression
that color is subjective. This is something that has always been intriguing.
One cannot help but think of little children learning their colors. Who’s to
say that if a child was taught that the color green was actually the color red,
they might not think the color green is red for the rest of their lives?
Though, quickly Munsell explains that while many may think color is subjective,
it is actually quite objective.
When reading about the three aspects that all color is defined
by, hue, chroma and value, one is struck by the fact that not only does color
need a system to define itself, it also needs to be explained more clearly when
first introduced and taught. There are so many aspects of color that the
majority of the population gets wrong. Never did it occur that tone is not an
appropriate way to describe color. So many times it has been utilized to describe
the value of a color. But rarely do children learn about color value, rather
they are taught that one tone of color is darker or lighter than another. One
can go on and on about all inaccuracies found in color education, thought
suffice it to say that Munsell paints a very vivid picture that to understand
color is almost as hard as understanding life!
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