Understanding how tone affects color

This is a valuable exercise that uses only gray with a given color. It is interesting to see how gray (Titanium white and Ivory black) affects color. A variety of tones are created depending on how much black vs. how much white is in the gray mixture. I recommend doing these tone charts with all colors on your palette (primary and secondary colors).  I also recommend doing these charts again with using brown instead of black. Also, note how cadmium yellow is light in nature and appears higher up on the value scale. By the same token, Cadmium red is intrinsically a darker color and appears lower on the value scale. Be sensitive to the innate lightness or darkness of a color that comes directly out of the tube. Because of this, cadmium yellow can sometimes be used to lighten a color–just as, Ultramarine can be used to darken a color. Helpful Tip: try printing-out (in black and white) any color, stripping it of its color information to see where exactly it would fall on the value chart.