additive color mixing

BROWN AS "DIRTY YELLOW"

Artists, and children, know that mixing red and green pigment makes brown. Most artists, especially those who lack physics training, are unsettled by the empirical fact that mixing red and green light makes yellow light. The nagging problem evaporates when we acknowledge that shades of brown are simply darker and less saturated yellows and oranges.

The colors shown in the table were generated by Photoshop. A value of 255 represents 100% color saturation.

100% 80% 60% 40%

Red: 255 Green: 255 Blue: 000 Red: 255 Green: 204 Blue: 000 Red: 255 Green: 156 Blue: 000 Red: 255 Green: 960 Blue: 000

3. Chroma: (The intensity or saturation of the hue.) Hue and lightness constant.

Color attribute strips sourced from Bruce MacEvoy's definitive website on the art and science of color: Handprint.com

2. Hue: (What color is it?) Chroma and lightness constant.

1. Brightness: Hue and chroma constant.

SUBTRACTIVE COLOR MIXING USING FILTERS CULMINATES WITH BLACK

If white light is passed through a green filter only green light passes. If this green light then passes through a red filter no light passes through. The other paired combinations of Red Green and Blue also produce Black. Magenta, Cyan and Yellow combine subtractively in pairs to form (the less bright) Red, Green or Blue. Magenta, Cyan and Yellow are the base hues for color printing, color photography and pigment mixing.

BRIGHTNESS, HUE AND CHROMA

OPPOSITE PAIRS OF THE SIX COLORS COMBINE TO MAKE WHITE LIGHT

Red is opposite to Cyan

Blue is opposite to Yellow

Green is opposite to Magenta

ADDITIVE MIXING OF COLORED LIGHT

Red and Green light combine to make Yellow

Blue and Green light combine to make Cyan

Red and Blue combine to make Magenta

Red, Blue and Green together make White.

Notice that the composites Yellow, Cyan and Magenta are brighter than Red, Green and Blue.