Datasheet
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■ UNDERSTANDING COLOR AND COMPOSITION
Color Theory Overview
In the traditional color theory model, red, yellow, and blue are considered primary
colors. As such, they follow these rules:
N• o combination of any two primary colors can produce a third primary color.
C• ombinations of all three primaries can produce a wider range of colors than
any other combination of colors.
You can form secondary colors by mixing together primary colors, which
produces orange, green, and violet (purple). You can form tertiary colors by mixing
primary colors and secondary colors; the resulting colors are generally given hyphen-
ated names, such as blue-green. The primary, secondary, and tertiary colors are often
represented by a 12-step color wheel (see Figure 1.29).
RYB RGB
P= Primary colors
S = Secondary colors
T = Te rtiary colors
P
PP
SS
S
T
T
TT
T
T
T
TT
T T
T
P
S
PS
P
S
Figure 1.29 (Left) Red-yellow-blue (RYB) color wheel re-created in Maya. The scene is included on the CD as RYB_wheel.ma.
(Right) Red-green-blue (RGB) color wheel re-created in Maya. The scene is included on the CD as
RGB_wheel.ma.
The red-yellow-blue (RYB) color theory model evolved in the 18th century and
was based on color materialism, which assumes that primary colors are based on spe-
cific, indivisible material pigments found in minerals or other natural substances. The
popularization of specific RYB colors was aided by printmakers such as Jakob Christ-
offel Le Blon (1667–1741), who developed the color separation printing process. The
color wheel itself was invented by Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1727) in 1704, although his
variation contained seven hues visible when white light was split by a prism.
The development of computer graphics, however, has added a new set of pri-
mary colors: red, green, and blue, or RGB. This produces its own unique color wheel
(see Figure 1.29). Through an additive process, computer monitors mix red, green,
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