Which term describes a color made by adding black to a hue?

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

Answer: (A)

When you add black to a hue, you create a darker version of that color, which is called a shade. This term specifically describes the result of mixing with black to reduce lightness. For example, adding black to red gives a darker red, or adding black to blue gives a navy blue.

Hue refers to the base color family itself (red, blue, green, etc.), not its darkness. Value describes how light or dark a color appears overall, which can be adjusted by shading, tinting, or toning, but the act of adding black to create the darkened color is named a shade. Tone would involve adding gray, producing a color with less saturation.