Light and Color• There are 3 primary colors of light

REDRED, GREENGREEN, & BLUEBLUE

• When these colors of light are mixed…WhiteWhite Light is produced

• This process is called color addition

Color Addition (Light)

• RedRed + GreenGreen = YellowYellow• RedRed + BlueBlue = MagentaMagenta• BlueBlue + GreenGreen = CyanCyan• RedRed + GreenGreen + BlueBlue = WhiteWhite

• YellowYellow, MagentaMagenta, and CyanCyan are called the secondary colors of light because they are produced using 2 of the primary colors.

Pigments• Pigments work on the principle of

color subtraction.

• The light we see is reflected light.

• A pigment of a certain color will reflect only that color of light and absorb all other frequencies.

• Example: A blue shirt will reflect incident blue light and absorb red and green.

Primary PigmentsThe primary pigment colors are magentamagenta, cyancyan, and yellowyellow because they absorb only one frequency of color.

YellowYellow absorbs blueblue and reflects redred and greengreen.

CyanCyan absorbs redred and reflects blueblue and greengreen.

MagentaMagenta absorbs greengreen and reflects redred and blue.blue.

Color Subtraction (Pigments)

Mixing pigments means that you will see only the color that both colors reflect. RedRed, BlueBlue and GreenGreen are secondary pigments because they absorb 2 colors.

Magenta Magenta + + YellowYellow = = RedRed

CyanCyan + + MagentaMagenta = = Blue Blue

YellowYellow + + CyanCyan = = GreenGreen

Complementary Colors

• Yellow & Blue• Cyan & Red• Magenta & Green

Complementary colors are the same for light & pigment.For light, complementary colors combine to make white.white.For pigment, complementary colors combine to make black.

Black and White

Black is not a color!

Black is the absence of any light.

A black surface will absorb all incident light and reflect none.

WhiteWhite light is the mixture of all frequencies (colors) of light.

A whitewhite surface will reflect all frequencies (colors) of light.