Colour Lesson IV

Hue, Saturation and Lightness

Colors present themselves in continuous flux, constantly related to changing neighbors and changing conditions.

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Hue

The family. The name.
Red , blue , green . Not as pigment, but as idea.

Hue is what we point to when we say “that’s teal ,” or “I love mustard yellow .”

where a colour lives on the wheel, a direction rather than a destination

A single hue can become dozens of different colours, depending on its context and companions.

Hue is the quality by which we distinguish one color family from another. It’s a radial value on the color wheel, independent of brightness or purity.

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Saturation

Saturation describes intensity and purity .
How vivid, rich, or greyed‑out the colour feels.

At full saturation a red sings. At low saturation it whispers, softened by neutrality.

Saturation changes the emotional register from childlike brightness to weathered subtlety

Saturation is reduced by adding gray or by diluting the pigment—it reflects how much a hue has been neutralized.

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Lightness (or Value)

Lightness tells us how much light a colour appears to reflect .
It governs contrast, form, and depth.

Even within a single hue , shifting its value can dramatically change the mood. A bright cobalt becomes midnight indigo .

Value is the most important dimension of colour for establishing form and spatial depth.

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How They Interact

Colour is not a point but a space

Hue , saturation , and lightness together shape full expression.

A pure hue may feel flat. Desaturate it and it becomes refined.
Darken it and it feels grounded.

Adjust all three, and you can dial a feeling as precisely as tuning a chord

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Examples

• Cherry red → red hue, high saturation, mid‑lightness
• Dusty rose → red‑pink hue, low saturation, high lightness
• Olive green → yellow‑green hue, low saturation, mid‑dark value
• Teal → blue‑green hue, medium saturation, medium lightness
• Midnight blue → blue hue, low lightness, moderate saturation

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Closing Thought

HSL is not just a model, it is a grammar of emotion

It’s how we adjust tone in digital tools, in styling, in memory.

Colour, like music, exists in relationships. Hue is the note, saturation the volume, lightness the rhythm.

Every shift in HSL is a decision. To mute or to announce, to shadow or to shine

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References

• Josef Albers, Interaction of Color
• David Briggs, The Dimensions of Colour
• Johannes Itten, The Elements of Color
• Wucius Wong, Principles of Color Design
• Bruce MacEvoy, handprint.com: HSL section
• Wikipedia entries on Hue, Chromaticity, Color Constancy