How Light Affects Color

When choosing a paint color, an essential factor to consider is the lighting in the environment where the paint will be applied.

To illustrate how light can affect color, an area is painted two similar shades of green.

Lit by the sun, the difference is very slight. The same colors under warm artificial light look very different.

Here we are observing a phenomenon known as metamerism. Where similar paint colors appear different under one light source and the same under another light source, there are many different light sources, and the same color will look different under each of them. Be sure to check your color under the same lighting conditions in which it will be applied.

So when deciding on a paint color, don't forget the effect of light on color.