Which color property describes the brightness or darkness of a hue?

• A. Hue
• B. Value
• C. Saturation
• D. Tone

Answer: (B)

Brightness or darkness of a hue is described by value. Value measures how light or dark a color appears, independent of its actual color family. You can raise the value by adding white (a tint), or lower it by adding black (a shade). Hue is the color itself (red, blue, etc.), not its lightness. Saturation refers to how pure or vivid the color is, while tone is a muted color created by adding gray, which can affect both value and saturation but isn’t the standard term for how light or dark a hue is.