[pixelherder]

I'm doing some digital painting lately and once and for all i need to sort out this problem



So whats the answer?

I think "technically" they're both correct, but visually they dont make sense.

You cant hold up a card with Red and Green complementary colours, and then say its incorrect when its on a screen.

It shouldnt matter how its produced only what you see...

...so does anyone have any advice. Even the blindingly obvious that i've probably missed...

[Mikko K]

Well, not sure if I remember this right.

RGB and CMY(k) are complimentary. So Red and Cyan, Green and Magenta, Blue and Yellow are on the opposite sides of color wheel. That's the accurate "scientific" color wheel I think. Light works that way.

The painter's color wheel, with red and green as complimentary is not really accurate as far as I remember. It's logical, yes, but the 'real' complimentary colors are the ones in your Screen Mixing image.

Correct me if this is wrong.

[B0b]

Socar i seem to remember somewhere did a web page? on this..

i'm sure that green's complimentary colour is violet/purple?

[Pat]

RYB is the traditional painter's palette. It's a subtractive color model based on mixing paint. RGB is an additive color model arrived at mathmatically and used to display color on video devices. To answer your question: they both are correct. Digital painters still refer to the RYB color model because it conforms to how we perceive and appreciate color, but it's mixing model does not apply to RGB.

If you've got any experience mixing colors in real life, the RGB color model can be a little unpredictable at first. This is because RGB encompasses colors into its color space which can not be mixed using Red, Yellow or Blue, namely Cyan and Magenta, they simply are not in the RYB color wheel. Because these additional colors are added, traditional complimentaries don't register across for each other anymore.

The traditional example has been mixing yellow and blue to make green. Often times with traditional paints this works. With RGB however, the result is less than spectacular. In many cases you get purple! Oddly, this is as it should be. By compensating for the newer colors in the color wheel, you only have to mix yellow with cyan to achieve the results you're used to.

It takes a little getting used to, but the additional range of colors makes the learning worth it.

-Pat

[pixelherder]

thanks for the replies everyone, the fact that most colour mixing seems to be based on traditional painting models is whats really left me confused. Especially when trying to apply those principles to digital painting. (Interesting stuff about cyan, magenta and ryb pat)

So after a long sleepless night, i came up with some stuff that should settle this for once and for all...until i forget it all again

If anyone else is interested, then here's some good stuff.

colour theory (that tutorial by socar myles that was mentioned - really good)
http://www.epilogue.net/art/tech/socar_color/

general colour theory - very informative
http://studioproducts.com/theory.html

and a fantastic general tutorial by prometheus over on conceptart
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sh...=&threadid=3148

cheers!

[AndyT]

The working link to the tutorial by Prometheus :
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3148
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[pixelherder]

[jfrancis]

Look at the bottom of this page:

http://www.digitalartform.com/multiply.htm

Light comes in wavelengths. Brains interpret certain wavelengths as certain colors. Digital artists work in RGB space so much that they forget there is such a thing as YELLOW COLOR that is NOT a combination of RED and GREEN but is simply undecomposably YELLOW. However, there ARE YELLOWS that ARE combinations of RED and GREEN.

When colors add, they get closer and closer to white. Many colors can be expressed as combinations of the primary colors, RED, GREEN, and BLUE. There is nothing magical about those three colors. Any 3 suitably separated colors will do. Those 3 are chosen by convention, and I guess also because the receptors in our eyes are tuned to them.

When pigments mix, they filter out light. They do NOT SUBTRACT light, and it's really unfortunate that the phrase has become so deeply ingrained in our language. If anything, they MULTIPLY, they don't SUBTRACT.

Make a pale hansa (greenish) yellow and a pale greenish (cerulean) blue in photoshop by eye and multiply them. You'll get a nice green. That's what pigments do when they mix.

[vindow]

OK, i guess RGB is for screen use it depends on the way light mix and give shades of different color and RYB is liquid combinationphysical mixing). it may possibloe some software use RYB for user interface just to adopt the traditional way of artist's work. It is to help artist to keep same pallete as they use manualy afterall satwares like painter are just digital version of hand painting. so not to worry. i think both are right on theire possition.
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[jfrancis]

Not to belabor the point, but the R in the RGB case is NOT the same R as the R in the RYB case. The B's aren't the same B's, either. That's part of the confusion.