Antonym / opposite of Pastel Color Space (Color Scheme?)


In color spaces we have the regular solid colors like solid red (#FF0000), solid green, solid blue, etc. ... Then when we add about 50% white ontop of it, it becomes a "pastel" color space... What about the opposite, if I add 50% black it gets just a dark and a pastel gets light... What are these called? What is the antonym of a pastel color space? Thanks! God bless!

3/4/2016 7:53:00 PM

Accepted Answer

I don't know why people have to make this complicated. I'd say muted colors are the opposite of pastels. While we think of pastels are loud, bright and vibrant muted colors have a grayer tone.

11/8/2014 5:05:00 AM

Although I never heard the term 'pastel colour space', it looks like you're talking about tints, tones and shades of a hue, in HSB colour space. The term you're looking for is shade.

The pure hue has S(aturation) and B(rightness) each equal to 100%. Adding any amount of white reduces saturation, while keeping the brightness at 100%, yielding a tint of the hue. Adding any amount of black reduces brightness, while keeping saturation at 100%, yielding a shade of the hue. Lastly, adding both white and black (also known as 'grey') to a pure hue yields a tone of the hue.

painter's colour mixing terminology

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