Paint

Reply to: Here they are on a color wheel so you have some context of hue family and color spectrum. You can always try a white from the same hue family as Agreeable Grey and see if you like that better; a few options follow in the second image.

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Reply to: [extra white] cabinets may also look a little greenish against the agreeable grey as its such a large area? I doubt it. Anything can happen I suppose, but most 'just whites' are purposefully created from the yellow and green-yellow hue families because of the way we perceive certain wavelengths - the yellow/green-yellow region of the spectrum, low chroma whites will read as "just white" no strong overtones one way or the other on the color wheel. What about SW 7661 Reflection? I added it to the infographic so you can compare. I have color notations from SW, but I don't know to what standard they measured their colors. So, I always indicate that on images. I scanned Reflection with my colorimeter and did the conversion myself because the SW notation for Reflection put in too far in the green hue family, IMO. I mean it was within a reasonable range, but I trust my numbers more. The umber in the sample of Agreeable is 9 but in the Reflection it's only 1. Does that bring it over closer to the cool side on the wheel? I don't do the formula thing - reading the individual colorant components of a paint color is futile because of this thing called substance uncertainty. Substance uncertainty tells us that due to the physical make-up of colorants, it's impossible to know or predict what will happen when mixed together. Some colorants have big particles, some have small, some are more potently concentrated while others are thin and weaker. And these colorant characteristics vary from brand to brand. The only way to know is to mix the color and let it dry. So, could the factor of umber be the reason why Reflection is a green-yellow and Agreeable is a yellow? Maybe but there's no way to know that for sure. I am trying to find a greyish color that does not have the green or pink undertones. I don't subscribe to blogosphere's concept of undertone either. Undertones are about density of the paint film and how much, if any, of the substrate you can see thru the paint film. It goes masstone, midtone and undertone: Masstone is the thickest density and zero substrate shows thru. Midtone is the Goldilocks of paint film density. It's just right, zero substrate shows thru but the film is spread per manufacturer spread rate specification and is nice and even. Undertone is revealed when the paint (or other medium) is spread thinly so the substrate can be seen and light can reflect thru the thin film, off the substrate, and back up thru the thin film. You have to take some purposeful action to manipulate the paint (or other medium) to reveal undertone. How does one find out where in the wheel a color lives? Never, ever compare paint chips to a white background. White overpowers color swatches and makes them appear more grayed down, not so bright and intense. Underestimating a color’s brightness and intensity is the #1 mistake people make when choosing paint colors. “It’s too bright” is the #1 reason people give as to why they don’t like the color they chose. I use spectral data and math to calculate a color notation, hue family. If you don't know how to use spectral data to get a color notation, determine hue family, then you have to eyeball it. You have to visually assess your target color compared to a set of chromatic hue parents. If you want to discern what hue family a color belongs to sans color measurement data, then you compare it to hue family parents. Compare the uncategorized color to a big chip of red, blue, green, yellow, etc. Color responds to its context. Comparing one color to another is basic context. You do that because it is a that which is like unto itself is drawn kinda situation. Put the child color (your color) next to its hue parent and you can see the similarities and thus determine what hue parent/family a paint color belongs to. It is no different from human kids and parents. See a kid running around at the playground and he looks like any other kid. Put him in context with his family and suddenly you are able to recognize similar features and compare attributes, and it quickly becomes apparent that junior is a chip off the old block. Same thing happens with color. Through the process of comparison, you will see the hue family to which a color belongs. Here's a list from SW and BenM of saturated colors that can serve as hue parents for comparison purposes in order to determine a color's hue family. Download Hue Parents Infographic I think I got all you questions. Hope it helps.

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Reply to: Everybody assumes formulas and colorants hold clues to help predict what a color will look like once it's up. The formula is on every can, so why wouldn't they think there's some kind of hidden code in there? It is logical, and sometimes it might work out and prove to be true. Unfortunately, reading the formula is inconsistent and super sketchy due to substance uncertainty and the huge variety of colorants and bases out there. If more people understood spectral data and how reliable it is, and how easy it is to use, they'd drop the flaky formula schtick like a hot potato. If numbers don't scare you, then watch this video and I'll show you a way to determine hue family without visually comparing to hue parents. We use the spectral data on easyrgb.com to look up the hue family for any paint color in their library. You'll need this color wheel.

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