Munsell Colour Selection Tools for Painters

Munsell Colour Grouping Tool

This tool was created to enable you to put together groups of munsell colours that represent mixing strategies for colours in your paintings. It is intended for use alongside the ChromaMagic tool linked below.

I found myself wanting to simplify the variety of colours I was going to use for painting, and doing this ahead of time while analysing what was really in the image. I was making notes of the Munsell notations of the small number of colours - out of the almost infinite variety that exists in the real world. I wanted a way to both remind myself of the colour schemes I decided to use and then to be able to get them into large swatches on the screen for mixing.

Bear in mind you need to calibrate your monitor in order to make sure you are looking at the right colour when you use all these tools.

Go to Colour Grouping Tool

Michele Clamp's ChromaMagic Tool

Michele Clamp has created the amazing ChromaMagic tool. Upload a photo and you can get accurate Munsell notated colours for areas of the image. The tool hastens learning about what colours actually exist in a scene. If you are serious about realism in your paintings, then ChromaMagic is the key to teaching your eye how to see what is really there.

Go to The ChromaMagic Tool

Munsell Hue Wheel

This tool is a convenient way to navigate the Munsell Colour Space and to get to a full screen rendition of a particular colour. To use it click on the hue you require and then on the link in any colour swwatch to get a full screen page of that colour.

Go to Munsell Hue Wheel Tool

Paul Foxton

I owe my introduction, and a great deal of learning on this subject to Paul Foxton who is a painter and teacher of immense skill. Paul has a very active YouTube channel and importantly an online school.

Go to Paul Foxton's Online School

Munsell to RGB conversions

The Munsell to RGB conversions used in here come from Paul Centore's web site. No mapping between the two colour systems is exactly perfect, and online resources are scarce. I have done my best to create a true representation of the colour space in the tools above.

However, the caveat remains that the mapping are not perfect and you need to calibrate your monitor in order to make sure you are looking at the right colour when you use these tools.

In addition to the mappings, Paul Centore also sells an indispensible true Munsell value scale which can be found on ebay.

Go to Paul Centore's Web Site