What Nobody Will Tell You About Color Theory

[@lehacarpenter7773]

Thank you! In order to pull maximum chroma from pigments, I have always started with finding the nearest neighboring available single-pigment paints according to the "wheel," and then choosing two that are of about the same staining power, so that one doesn't overpower the other. Nearest neighbors produce much purer results than primaries, in general, and experimenting to weigh things like staining strength and possible chemical interactions (as with ceramic glazes) is something we all just need to embrace if we want those powerful results. I also think that a lot of people don't realize that high quality, single-pigment paints are going to produce much better mixing results in general, once you learn the properties of the pigments.

[@kenkelly5848]

this is the basis for the entire printing industry. back in the day colour separations were made in a photographic process where an original (photo/diaPositive) was photographed onto pan film using three gelled filters that were red, green, blue. it was an amazing process and it was essential for modern colour communication.

[@miro-hristov]

Hey Florent, interesting video, but I think there are some key technical points to address about pigment mixing vs light behavior that need clarification. That first example with after-images is actually showing something different - it's about how our eye's cone cells get fatigued from staring at colors and then produce opposite colors when we look at white (like seeing cyan after staring at red). The "optical-illusion" is about additive light processing, which is totally different from how pigments mix. And about CMY - painters don't avoid it just because "we're not printers" - pigments just don't work that way. Printers can make bright reds and blues because they use special inks and dot patterns - try mixing CMY oil paints to get vibrant blues or reds and you'll end up with muddy unusable colors. The color wheel you suggested might work great with RGB math, but it doesn't match what happens with real pigments. Like, you put blue and yellow opposite each other as if they'd make gray when mixed - but we all know they make green! It'd be neat if pigments worked like inverted RGB or normal CMY, but they don't - pigment mixing is way more complex with all sorts of layered reflections and refractions of light. Those old-school color wheels painters use (like Munsell), came from actually testing how pigments mix. Maybe check out how pigments really interact and do another video on that? And yeah, RYB isn't perfect, but there's a reason art teachers use it - it works well enough for learning the basics.

[@tamaradrift2696]

🤯 this makes so much more sense! Your color mixing videos are so incredibly helpful

[@jc-aguilar]

I watched a video at the Royal Talens channel where Michael Mentler said that the wheel at 1:30 is a misprint. The original version had Yellow, Cyan and Magenta colors as primaries.

[@onetruetroy]

Excellent video. I like all mediums and prefer gouache. I don’t have a standard palette and will setup based on the colors of the subject or reference image. I typically have an example of yellow, green, blue, and red pigments that closely match the most vibrant colors I see. I can always mix down those. If I have more than one of those vibrant colors due to greater difference in temperature or value, then I expand the palette. My rationale is that if I have premixed tubes that matches the colors I observe then there’s less chance of me muddying them. Plus, I will generally never run out of that color while filling a larger area. I’m horrible at trying to mix an exact match. I have over 40 great colors in each medium so it makes sense to me to start with what I have. Sometimes I’ll need to add a color because it appears differently on the surface immediately or when dried. Swatch books are absolutely valuable time savers.

[@Artist_Kevin]

CMYK RGB and Transparent white.

[@tedwallen4056]

Read the book, Blue and Yellow Don't Make Green by Michael Wilcox. It will change how you see everything. Great video, as always

[@jimfoote8066]

How do you mix yellow?

[@toddbowlin5844]

Is there a reason you list the colors outside the wheel instead of exact places inside like ciecam? And can't you just mix raw umber and ivory black 50/50 with white to make a true string of greys. Then add the appropriate grey value to neutralize or dull the color like it's done in a Reilly pallet?

[@Sephylis-tl4ll]

Only managed to see 2 out of three. Still, neat!

[@helenamcginty4920]

Weirdly I could see the light fitting behind my phone. My phone blocked out the centre of the fitting but I could 'see' it clearly. I know that what we see is only a tiny bit of the whole and that our brain fills in the rest from memory. This is the 1st time I have been acutely aware of it happening. My phone is not see through but I could 'see' through it. My brain had provided the centre of the fitting even though only a bit of it was visible at the side of my phone. I couldnt concentrate on your video, sorry, i was so taken with my 'see through' phone.

[@D-TroS]

Yes, everybody else hold color theory conspiracy. Where`s that illumi hat damn it.

[@FlorentFargesarts]

The truth is out there 🛸😲😵‍💫

[@anahenriques.]

I was shocked to know most countries teach Red - Yellow - Blue. Those are not the primaries I learned many years ago.

[@bipl8989]

Artists should take a bit of physics. Monitors construct pixel color using RGB values, denoting red, green and blue values, each color having values of 0 to 255. (0,0,0) is black and (255,255,255) is white. (255,0,0) is pure bright red, (0,255,0) is pure green and so on. This allows setting almost 17 million colors in each pixel.

[@FlorentFargesarts]

Yep, pretty cool ! So much more potentiel than ryb.

[@miro-hristov]

ummm no, you should try mixing some oil paints first!😆 I too came from a RGB background into paints to find the hard way things don't work like you would expect. Very surprised Florent loved you comment without correction...

[@ryangierman4421]

The difference between RGB and pigment is that paint has impurities in it that cause unexpected color shifts when mixing. Plus, paint has additional properties that affect the color results. There is a great book called blue and yellow don’t make green. That will explain a lot. There also many other color models such as LAB for example. Color such as deep and fascinating rabbit hole!

[@socratesthecabdriver]

🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@korosheht5446]

"smart people who made the printer" Thats it fellas they got him 😢

[@FlorentFargesarts]

Oh no, they’re still smart, but evil 😈

[@Artist_Kevin]

👋😎

[@victoralosi1461]

Cromalithogrhy