RE: [DL] RE: Ironclad colors (OT by this time, I should think)

[Cheyenne Wright <TheRaven@Sprynet.com>]

> sorry daphne. at the risk of actually defending macintosh, green IS a primary
> color when you are talking about light. yellow is only primary when dealing with
> pigments. i dont know why it works that way, it just does :)
> 

Well as an art major with a minor in stagecraft i DO know why it works this way... Ahem

Pigment Color (used for painting for example) is subtractive. take a white box and paint it 
Red. The pigment absorbs the light hitting it and it appears red because the red wavelength is 
reflected off the surface of the object and to our eyes. if more pigments with different 
properties (i.e. colors) are mixed together and added to an object more and more 
wavelengths are absorbed by the collective pigment and less light is reflected to our eyes. 
This causes the object to appear darker and muddled, until it turns black (is no longer 
reflecting any visible light)

Gel Color (used for lighting effects or your TV screen) is additive. take the same white box 
and point a white light at it. it appears white. put a red gel filter (much like a red tinted piece 
of cellophane) between the light and the box and now our object appears red. because the 
red wavelength is the only one being reflected to our eyes. if we add a light with a blue gel, 
the object now appears violet. Not (you may notice) purple, like we get with pigments. Red 
is a hearty color -pun intended- and will dominate other colors. This is why we must a green 
gel to get a bluish-purple color. if we were to place 7 lights on the same object each with a 
different gel, each adding a wavelength, we would recreate... White Light! 

save this e-mail for later... it will be on the test.

Cheyenne "i like the lights off" Wright


www.geocitiies.com/medmenham   The Art of Cheyenne Wright
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When we remember that we are all mad, the mysteries dissappear and life stands explained.
- Mark Twain