Achromatic palette, or How to get black color from paints

The perception of color is extremely individual and depends on how the human eye perceives rays reflecting from different surfaces. There are surfaces that do not reflect the rays, but absorb them. When they are absorbed, the person sees a black color. That's why black is called "dead" color or "lack of color."

Therefore, the answer to the question of how to get black from the colors will be this: the real black can not be obtained by mixing any other shades of the spectrum. However, you can create very dark shades that, in contrast to others, create a feeling of black. To find out what colors to blend in order to get a black color, it is worth turning to the theory of art and the psychology of color perception.

Color Models and Color Synthesis

There are two models of color synthesis, that is, obtaining new colors and shades.

Additive - a model for obtaining color, based on the addition and overlapping of rays, reflected from the surfaces of objects. This model is used in monitors and screens, its main color range is RGB. Additive color synthesis uses three main lights: red, green and blue. By superimposing and mixing these rays, all other shades are formed, except black. In this model, black color is considered complete absence of reflection.

Subtractive - a model based on the mixing of physical pigments and paints. In this lack of color is considered white. And black is obtained by mixing all the basic shades. So what colors do you need to mix to get black? In the subtractive model, primary (or basic) shades are magenta, cyan and yellow.

Subtractive mixing method

Compared to additive color synthesis, the subtractive model produces fewer shades. In addition, the theoretical or mathematical model of subtractive synthesis is fundamentally different from what is obtained in practice. For example, theoretically, when you mix the three primary colors, you should get a black color. However, in practice this color is very dark brown.

The subtractive method is used in printing and printing, where it is very important to achieve real black color. In order to get it, three key colors are added "key". It is from here and the name of the main range of the subtractive model is CMYK, where C is cyan (cyan, in Russian it is called blue or greenish blue), M is magenta (shade of magenta), Y is yellow (yellow), and K is key color (Key color). In this range, the key is natural black. Asking how to get black from the colors of the chromatic spectrum, the typographers realized that none of the shades obtained would replace natural black.

Three primary colors

According to the art theory of Johannes Itten, there are three basic colors, when mixed, all other colors of the spectrum are obtained. Etten singled out red, yellow and blue as the main ones. Subsequent theories have determined that the ideal primary colors are purple (magenta), cyan (cyan) and yellow. They are called primary colors, which reflect a larger spectrum and which can not be obtained by combining other shades.

In fact, red and blue are not primary. They absorb more light than they reflect, but despite this, they are still often called primary colors and are used to create the rest of the color wheel.

Note: White and black are not included in the spectrum and color circles and are called achromatic. How to get a black color from the colors, always varied and depended on many existing at the moment theories.

Pure Colors

According to the early theory, pure colors were red, blue, yellow and green. It was believed that they can not be obtained by mixing other shades. Later, with the development of technology, it turned out that the three primary colors that can not be obtained are purple, blue and yellow.

Modern color theory distinguishes three primary, three secondary chromatic and one achromatic - black. What colors to blend to get a black color, varies. In comparison, everything works: from mixing basic shades to mixing red, blue and yellow, or even red and green.

Secondary colors are green, blue and red. Green is obtained by mixing yellow with greenish-blue. Purple and blue give blue. And by mixing purple with yellow, you can get a red color.

In theory, the question of how to obtain a black color from paints is solved by mixing the three primary colors in their ideal shades. It is cyan, magenta and yellow. However, it is practically impossible to obtain an ideal black by combining other chromatic colors . The printing and painting uses natural black color.

Natural black

Black is virtually no color. The more light rays absorbed the surface of an object, the darker it seems. In nature, there is absolutely no black, but the darkest Vantablack carbon is as close as possible to a 100% absorption of light, it reflects only 0.035% of the rays.

The main natural pigments from which black paint is produced are carbon. Among them, the main ones are graphite and soot. Artists at the dawn of painting thought about what colors should be mixed to get a black color, and came to the conclusion that the mixture of black colors can not be achieved. In the time of the High Renaissance, artists painters extracted black color from burnt bones. It was the darkest matte shade available in the Renaissance.