The Munsell Color System

A Practical Description With Suggestions for Its Use

by T. M. Cleland

While attending the Boston Normal Art School in the late 19th century, Albert Munsell was keenly aware that a practical theory of color did not exist. From his own work and experiments, he developed the Munsell Color System. Using his system made it possible to discuss color scientifically. He defined color in terms of Hue, Value and Chroma. Hue was defined as the actual color, red, blue, green, etc. Value was defined as how light or dark a color is. Chroma was defined as how strong or weak a color is. He published a standard color atlas defining the Munsell Color Standard which, before his work, had been an impossible task.

His work was embraced by the scientific community. In 1914 he was invited to present his findings to the scientific communities of England, France and Germany. His theory is still taught today.

Mr. T. M. Cleland has written this book which describes exactly what is meant by Color Hue, Color Value and Munsell Chroma. He then goes on to explain how to use the Munsell Color Theory to balance colors in order to achieve color harmony and how to find complementary colors. Having explained color balance and "opposite" colors, as Munsell calls them, Mr. Cleland goes on to show how to put the theory into practice.

Click the links below to begin reading our edited version of this interesting and easy to understand book on The Munsell Color Theory.

**Albert Munsell**

The Munsell Color System - Forward

The Forward to this book contains an interesting background and history about how the Munsell Color System came about.

Hue Color

This first chapter of The Munsell Color System gives an overview of Albert Munsell's three qualities of color - Hue, Value and Chroma. It then goes on to discuss Hue. Hue is the most obvious measurement of a color. It is how we define color in our every day language. The Simple Hues are Red, Yellow, Green, Blue and Purple. In this color system, the intermediate colors are called Yellow-Red, Green-Yellow, Blue-Green, Purple-Blue and Red-Purple because they are Compound Hues.

Color Value

This second chapter of The Munsell Color System explains the quality of Color Value. Color Value is simply how light or dark a color is. Black is the lowest Color Value, white is the highest.

Munsell Chroma

This third chapter of The Munsell Color System explains the quality of Chroma Color. Munsell Chroma refers to how strong or weak a color is. The weaker a color, the lower the Chroma and the more gray it has. A hue at its strongest color Chroma will have no gray.

Hue, Value and Chroma Chart

The previous three chapters of The Munsell Color System have described Color Hue, Color Value and Color Chroma. This chapter contains a summary of the three aspects of color with a diagram drawn in perspective, clearly illustrating the relationship between them.

Complementary Colors

The Munsell Color System uses the Hue color wheel diagram to illustrate complementary colors. Albert Munsell preferred the term "opposite color" to complementary color since they are on the opposite side of his color wheel. With his diagram it becomes easy to visualize how complementary colors relate to each other.

Color Balance

With the Munsell Color System we've learned that different color Hues have different strength or Chroma. Therefore, in order to have them balance when they are together on a page or in a picture, different amounts of each color need to be used. The different amounts depend on the Chroma of each color. With the Munsell Color System it is possible to mathematically determine how much of each color is needed for them to balance.

Color Combinations

This chapter of The Munsell Color System explains how to combine colors to produce color harmony. Previous discussions had centered mostly on complementary colors, but in this chapter the discussion is broadened to include color combinations within a single Hue, with neighboring Hues and with three or more colors.

Appendix

The appendix contains useful information. It talks about how to put these principals into practice. It is not as difficult as it may seem. Following simple guidelines will give in pleasing results. There are also some examples of how these guidelines may be put into practical use.

About This Book

List of reference material along with the original and current copyright information.