Color

All color is derived from two types of light mixture, an additive and a subtractive process. Both additive and subtractive mixtures are equally important to color design and perception. The additive and subtractive elements are related but different. In a subtractive process, blended colors subtract from white light the colors that they cannot reflect. Subtractive light mixtures occur when there is a mixture of colored light caused by the transmittance of white light. The additive light mixture appears more than the white light.

In a subtractive light mixture, a great many colors can be created by mixing a variety of colors. Colors apply only to additive light mixtures. Mixing colored light produces new colors different from the way colorants are mixed. Mixing colorants results in new colors because each colorant subtracts wavelengths of light. But mixing colored lights produces new colors by adding light of different wavelengths.

Both additive and subtractive mixtures of hues adjacent to each other in the spectrum produce intermediate hues. The additive mixture is slightly saturated or mixed with light, the subtractive mixture is slightly darkened. The complimentary pairs mixed subtractively do not give white pigments with additive mixtures.

Additive light mixtures can be used in a number of slide projectors and color filters in order to place different colored light beams on a white screen. In this case, the colored areas of light are added to one another. Subtractive color mixing takes place when a beam of light passes through a colored filter. The filter can be a piece of colored glass or plastic or a liquid that is colored by a dye. The filter absorbs and changes part of the light. Filters and paints absorb certain colors and reflect others.

Subtractive color mixing is the basis of color printing. The color printer applies the colors one at a time. Usually the printer uses three colors: blue, yellow, and red, in addition to black for shading and emphasis. It is quite difficult for a painter to match colors. To produce the resulting colors, trial and error, as well as experimenting with the colors, is essential. It is difficult to know in advance what the resulting color will be. It is interesting to watch a painter trying to match colors.

People who use conventional methods to print books and magazines make colored illustrations by mixing together printing inks. The color is made of a large number of tiny dots of several different colors. The dots are so tiny that the human eye does not see them individually. It sees only the combined effects of all of them taken together. Thus, if half of the tiny dots are blue and half are yellow, the resulting color will appear green.

Dying fabrics is a prehistoric craft. In the past, most dyes were provided solely from plant and animal sources. In antiquity, the color purple or indigo, derived from plants, was a symbol of aristocracy. In ancient Rome, only the emperor was privileged to wear a purple robe.

Today, many dyes and pigments are made of synthetic material. Thousands of dyes and pigments have since been created from natural coal tar, from natural compounds, and from artificially produced organic chemicals. Modern chemistry is now able to combine various arrangements and thus produce a large variety of color.

The color of a dye is caused by the absorption of light of specific wavelengths. Dyes are made of either natural or synthetic material. Chemical dyes tend to be brighter than natural dyes. In 1991 a metamorphic color system was created in a new line of clothes. The color of these clothes changes with the wearer's body temperature and environment. This color system could be used in a number of fabrics and designs.

Sometimes white clothes turn yellow from repeated washing. The clothes look yellow because they reflect more blue light than they did before. To improve the color of the faded clothes a blue dye is added to the wash water, thus helping them reflect all colors of the spectrum more evenly in order to appear white.

Most paints and crayons use a mixture of several colors. When two colors are mixed, the mixture will reflect the colors that both had in common. For example, yellow came from the sap of a tree, from the bark of the birch tree, and onion skins. There were a variety of colors obtained from leaves, fruits, and flowers.