Cool and Warm Greys - YouLookFab Forum

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Cool and Warm Greys

Anonymous

A lot of posts on the Forum speak to cool and warm tones. I understand all the words that are used, but I have so much difficulty visualizing these ideas. I am not certain if I actually "see" it or if I convince myself that I see it and then agree with them.

For example, I know several artists. I talk to them frequently because I am interested in their perception of the world of colors. I frequently nod along with what they are saying (not really understanding what they are saying or seeing). I am just too embarrassed to say otherwise when they seem to see these tones as easily as I breath oxygen.

For the people that can see this so easily, is there a way to explain it so that I too can begin to see undertones? Or is this something that some people just naturally see and others don't.

General

14 replies

Latest reply was from Caro in Oz

Anonymous

When the grey has brown added in, doesn't it become an entirely new color? Taupe? I never thought of taupe as even in the same family.

Anonymous

Sterling, I know just what you mean: I have a pair of orphan Paul Green booties that I just realised last year are too warm for my cool greys, yet they aren't taupe, definitely grey. would it help on colours that you're not sure of to hold the uncertain item next to something that's obviously cool (bluer base) or obviously warm (yellower base)? Maybe your artist friends could pick out some colour swatches for you and tell you which are cool and which warm so you could use them as guides? A trick an art director once taught me is to stare at a colour until its base tone shows through. I have a teal top that doesn't work with colours I thought it would: when I tried the stare trick, I noticed a lot of yellow coming through and realised it's essentially warm and I was trying to pair with cool.

Identifying tones was a bit of a struggle for me at first, but I think it's a skill one can acheive in time, at least I think I'm getting there.

ETA: using Angie's boot post as a guide, the Converse shoes on the top row look warm to me but the Prada boots next to them appear cool. On the next line, the EFs look warm but the Softwalks to their right look cool. I might only be able to see these distinctions when they're next to each other though, it's harder when an item is isolated.

plonkee

With grey I find it either reads closer to taupe/brown, or closer to purple/blue. And the first of those is warm and the second cool. But I notice the colour similarities first, they don't actually seem warmer or cooler to me in and of themselves.

Joy

Veteran

It may take practice. I once foolishly thought that all greys would go together until I bought some that didn't. Years of weaving honed color sensitivity but I still can't look at my own skin and say I'm warm or cool...probably because I'm both and suspect that most people are.
Not only are there warm and cool greys, but there are differences in taupe. For warmth in grey, I look for a greenish undertone. Steely blue greys are cool. Then there are some clear greys that seem neither. It is probably easiest for you to put greys next to each other in good northern daylight to see differences. Same with blacks.

Ginger

Veteran

Plonkee said what I was going to say. A true grey, black and white with no other tone, is VERY hard to find. They usually either have blue/purple in them, and are hence cool, or brown/orange, and warm. It might help to have a purple and orange item with you; the one the gray doesn't fight with should be the undertone. It definitely takes practice to see, but it's the most obvious when you try to blend them and they won't.

Anonymous

This is very helpful. I'll do some comparisons and keep practicing.

Murph11

Veteran

Color theory can be tricky! The quickest way to see the subtle differences is a side-by-side comparison. A good place to start is a sample chip wall at a home improvement center or paint store (or online).

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Anonymous

Thank you, Murpheleven. I will print your chip and take it with me until it becomes second nature. I am very much drawn to cool greys. I always thought warm grey were called taupe and were thus not even grey. I see my mistake now.

plonkee

I love that paint chip idea, it's very clever.

Firecracker (Sharan)

Veteran

Sterling, I get what you mean. I can see differences, after some practice, but I can quickly get confused when real color experts start talking about the fine differences in tone.
I think a lot of my confusion about gray shoes can come from color names given to the shoes, too. Like Aliona, I have a pair of Paul Green booties (mine are not orphans, though--they have been workhorses) that are a color called "graphite." Which is the stuff in the middle of an old-school pencil, right? The booties look nothing like that stuff we write with; they are what I would call "taupe." And yet their color falls in the "warm gray" row of Murpheleven's example. I would not think of my booties as gray at all if they were not called so.
Complicating matters further for me is that I find warm grays very flattering on me, even though my coloring has been deemed overall "cool" by color analysts. So, go figure, right?

JAileen

Veteran

I recommend getting paint chips. We've done that a couple of times for projects at our house. This winter we were remodeling a bathroom and it was funny to see how some of the colors we thought were grey were actually tan.

Several years ago we wanted to repaint some siding in the front to go with the brick and the roof. We got every chip that was grey or tan, and chose a color that looked grey next to tan, and tan next to grey. Since then, two neighbors have painted their houses the EXACT SAME COLOR, including our next door neighbor. She asked if we minded. She's the best neighbor in the world so of course I said I didn't mind. The other neighbor told us she came up to our house with paint chips to see what matched. It must have been one of those times the dogs went wild barking.

BethT

See if any of your artist friends own any Prisma pencils (or other art pencils). They come in warm and cool greys at different %'s. Have them make a color chart for you.

Until I started coloring with my Prismas I never realized just how much of difference it makes!

Sveta

(website)

Veteran

Maria Killam has some great posts on undertones in some neutrals: here is one on the grey. According to her it is more than just warm vs cool grey - there are 3 undertones which play a role: green, blue and purple.
Her blog is on decorating but I think the same theory applies to fashion as well.

Caro in Oz

Veteran

I was going to suggest the Maria Killam posts too
With warm/cool or any other combo like saturated/soft I find it really helpful to ask the question: "Compared to what"? You really need to see colours side by side to "see" the difference in undertones.