Back when I was in Grade 5, some classmates of mine were scratching their heads during art class. We just finished coloring our respective color wheels with our paint and, apparently, someone had lost his white paint tube and was trying to re-create the color by combining every paint into the platter. What turned out was a dull gray, then, a black mixture.
We were confused. Was white supposed to be the combination of all colors?
Now, I'm just writing this down to placate any grade-schooler who has had the same dilemma. As what I can deduce (and please correct me on this one if my hypothesis is wrong), it's simply a matter of knowing what the paint's purpose really is.
A red paint is supposed to make something look or appear red. How does it do it? I suppose it does it by absorbing all the other colors and reflecting only red (just like what chlorophyll does in leaves: this substance absorbs every wavelength except green, which it reflects back).
Going back to paint, suppose I mix everything, does white come out? Obviously, it doesn't work that way because when I mix all the paints, each one is doing what it's supposed to do: blocking all colors and reflecting only the color it's supposed to reflect (which in turn is absorbed by the other pigments in the mix). So the opposite happens: no color gets reflected to the eye of the beholder and what we see is dirty black.
Neat, huh?
We were confused. Was white supposed to be the combination of all colors?
Now, I'm just writing this down to placate any grade-schooler who has had the same dilemma. As what I can deduce (and please correct me on this one if my hypothesis is wrong), it's simply a matter of knowing what the paint's purpose really is.
A red paint is supposed to make something look or appear red. How does it do it? I suppose it does it by absorbing all the other colors and reflecting only red (just like what chlorophyll does in leaves: this substance absorbs every wavelength except green, which it reflects back).
Going back to paint, suppose I mix everything, does white come out? Obviously, it doesn't work that way because when I mix all the paints, each one is doing what it's supposed to do: blocking all colors and reflecting only the color it's supposed to reflect (which in turn is absorbed by the other pigments in the mix). So the opposite happens: no color gets reflected to the eye of the beholder and what we see is dirty black.
Neat, huh?
4 comments:
different ang color wheel sa light and kanang sa coloring materials :D
Hello Sit. What's up?
Color as a pigment vs. color as a visble light. My teacher elaborated on that during high school. And by elaborate I mean three lectures.
Interesting post. I did the same experiment of mixing paint. I think what I used was watercolor. What a mess! LOL!
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