“There
is nothing else to be desired but the presentations of these children
of light to the astonished eye in the full splendour of their colors.” - Louis Daguerre
In class
we discussed how in 1666 Sir Isaac Newton demonstrated that white light
is the source of color. By passing a beam of white light into a prism,
he noticed that it split and subsequently discovered that white light
is actually a reflection of ALL colors of light. Newton then sat down
and designed Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" album cover...just
kidding - well, sort of!
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| Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon |
Light is part of the electromagnetic spectrum
The
human eye (and most image sensors and film) is sensitive to only a
small portion of this spectrum with wavelengths ranging from 400
nanometers to about 700nm.
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| The colors we see are part of the Visible Spectrum |
Additive and Subtractive Color
From this crucial bit of color science, we move forward to understanding that all colors can be created by mixing 3 primary colors together.
The Additive Process involves mixing Red, Green, and Blue light together
in varying proportions to produce any color. The RGB color method is
used in today's digital camera sensors, television sets, and computer
monitors, and was was used in early color film photography. Adding
red, green, and blue light together in equal amounts will produce white
light. Mixing just 2 of the additive primaries together will produce
one of the subtractive primaries (see below).
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| RGB = Additive Primaries |
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| Equal amounts of RGB light mixed together = White light |
The Subtractive Process involves mixing Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow dyes or pigments together
in varying proportions to produce any color. These colors absorb
their compliments of red, green, and blue, thus subtracting them from
white light. CMYK is the subtactive color model which refers to the 4
inks used in color printing (K representing Black ink which is
introduced to save on costs and because CMY inks are impure and do not
produce a true black when mixed equally). The inks literally subtract brightness from white when mixed.
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| CMY = Subtractive Primaries |
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| Equal amounts of CMY dyes/pigments = Black |
