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"Colors, like features, follow the changes of the emotions."
-Pablo Picasso
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General Color Information
Primary and Secondary Colors
RBG Color Model
CMYK Color Model
RYB Normal Color Model
Sources
General Color Information
-How we mix colors to make light is different from how we mix colors on a flat surface.
Normally, every object reflects every color except that color that we see. However,
a computer screen is actually beaming light at the eyes.
- The colors used for light use hexadecimal numbers.
-Black would be 000000. White would be FFFFFF.
Primary and Secondary Colors of Light
- The human retina is trichromatic meaning that it is receptive to three colors. The three colors
that it is the most receptive to are red, green and blue, the colors we refer to as primary colors.
- The combination of two primary colors creates a secondary color.
- Typically, we view subractive color--we see objects as the color that they reflect. However, when viewing
a computer screen, we are viewing additive primaries, colors that are being emitted from the computer screen.
- This is where the color model comes in: computers use color models to determine the color that will be displayed,
and these color models include the HSV color model and the RGB color model. The pictures and explanations of
the next section will show diagrams of these colors. (see next section)
RBG Color Model
- The additive set of primary colors. (Additive colors are those emitted by computers, tv's etc.)
- Additive primary color triad: red, blue, green
-Additive secondary color triad: cyan, magenta, yellow
-White is a mixture of all of the colors. Black does not contain light.
-The mixing of the primary colors and variations in hue of the primary colors produce different hues of colors
including the secondary colors. This can be seen on the image to the left.
- The RBG color model is used to display color in technological systems such as computers,
televisions, and other electronic systems.
- RBG colors are device-dependent which means that each technological device could portray a color
that is slightly different.
CMYK Color Model
-CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key black
-The CMYK model is used for printing and is a four color subtractive model.
-It is often referred to as a model containing process colors.
-The CMYK model blocks or partially blocks certain wavelengths of light on the white background.
-Unlike the RBG color model, in the CMYK color model, white is the natural color and is made up of only white,
while black is the combination of all colors on the white background.
-To save money, printers use unsaturated dark tones or black instead of using the mixture of the
cyan, magenta, and yellow!
RYB Color Model - Normal Primary Colors
- It is the set of subtractive primary colors, the colors that our eyes see due to the object's reflection of that color.
-Ever since we were little, we have learned about these primary colors.
-The primary colors are: red, green, blue. The complementary colors are: cyan, magenta, and yellow.
- The term saturation refers to the strength of the hue. A color that is fully saturated only has that pure color.
-The RYB is the standard color model for artists and used in paintings.
- Historically, the RYB color model forms the foundation of theories of color vision and was used for
printing as early as 1725.
Sources (in sequential order) Click on images above for their location!
- Wikipedia: Primary Colors
- Wikipedia: RBG Color Wheel Image
- Wikipedia: RBG Color Model Information
- Wikipedia: CMYK Color Model Image
- Wikipedia: CMYK Color Model
- Wikipedia: RYB Color Wheel Image
- Wikipedia: RYB Color Model Information
- Tooter: RYB Information
- Quoteland: Color
- Heart Cursor
Created by:
MeReDiTh
3/1/10
